


we ain't sorry

by wildflower (bangtrashsyd)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Dysfunctional Relationships, Justice League Ensemble - Freeform, M/M, Questionable Intentions, cursing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2018-12-18 15:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11877750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangtrashsyd/pseuds/wildflower
Summary: "Rookie." Seongwoo turns to see a man with messy hair eye him appreciatively.  "What happened to you, rookie?""My name is Ong Seongwoo." He snaps back, gnashing his teeth. The man tilts his head, question ready on his lips. "Not Gong, not Hong, but Ong. Seongwoo.""He slept with Kang Daniel and went mad." Someone chimes into the conversation. The person speaking has a pink hoodie on, and he's beautiful. Seongwoo has to admit that. His eyes are a little unnerving, with one flashing blue and the other gold. "Hello, Seongwoo. My name is Minhyun, and I've been waiting for you."





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> wink wonk i'm back with justice league bitches ((i've got five drafts in the works and my chinese finals start tomorrow look at how stressed i am))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to do a ongniel fic this time and get my head out of 2hyun's ass.... is it possible? i don't think so but we'll see

Kang Daniel loses Ong Seongwoo for the first time when he drives their family car into the water. It's the very first time he loses something that's  _his,_ and it makes him very, very angry.

Daniel gasps for air, presses his knuckles into the seat belt, and sees the sudden burst of bubbles as someone else jumps into the water. Fuck Ahn Junyoung and his rats. He strains his eyes against the painful seawater, watching Seongwoo eye him resentfully.

"You owe me one more date." Seongwoo mouths, bubbles escaping from his mouth. His fingers are on the seatbelt, but he doesn't unbuckle himself. Daniel tries to grin, all sharp teeth and apologetic eyes. He reaches out a hand and presses it to his lover's cheek, then holds the pretty pink jade pendant at the hollow of his throat. Seongwoo blows him a kiss, closes his eyes, and his body goes slack with practiced ease.

Daniel sees the dark shape in the water near, and he kicks the bottom of the car, unlocking the emergency exit. The hatch swings open, and he lets gravity drag him below the car, then pushes the hatch closed.

The dark shape nears even more, and he touches the car with trembling fingers. He spins away, clicking his feet together to activate the little boosters powered into his Timberlands. Reaching the river within a minute, he comes up to breathe, revelling in the dizzying feeling in his head.

"Sir!" Someone runs out to meet him with an umbrella, and Daniel looks up. It's Hyungseob, worried eyes and bitten lip. He covers the both of them with the umbrella, stopping him from getting soaked further. "Is everything okay?"

Daniel snarls.

"One day," he tells his assistant quietly as they make their way to the black van. "I'm going to kill Ahn Junyoung. I'm going to make it real slow, and I'll feed him to the grandchildren he adores so much."

Hyungseob chuckles, sliding open the door so they can get in.

"Seongwoo-hyung said that you would say that." He chirps, closing the umbrella and shutting the door behind him. "He told me to tell you that you should kill all his grandchildren in front of him instead."

Daniel clucks his tongue.

"Don't say his name." He snaps. Hyungseob shuts up immediately, telling Woojin in front to start driving. As they move, Daniel picks up the iPad on the seats, watching the drone cameras. 

A dark shape emerges from the waters, hauling a body behind him. Daniel zooms in to check, cursing when Seongwoo isn't responsive as the rat slaps him. Said rat shoves his lover into the back of his filthy backseat, and crouches over him. The rat also does CPR on him, and Daniel snarls as his lips touch-

He winds down the window and flings the tablet out, feeling the bump as Woojin drives over it.

Damn it, he really liked that car.

**;tbc;**


	2. act 1 : who calls the shots?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen to sunmi -가시나 (gashina) & stan the queen while you're at it

**ACT 1 SCENE 1: SEONGWOO**

"Wake up." Someone splashes cold water all over him and Seongwoo jolts awake. His teeth start chattering immediately, and his old clothes have been stripped away. Touching a hand to his neck, he tries to pat for the pendant but the chain is gone. "Stand up."

Seongwoo stumbles to his feet, looking around. He's in some kind of metal compound and it screws entirely with his core. The fire in his heart is silent, and he's pretty sure it's not a good sign. He's got a black shirt and a pair of sweatpants on, and no shoes. The ground is cold under his feet, everything is... cold.

"Ong Seongwoo, you are now a prisoner in The Facility, a rehabilitation centre for.. special guests." The woman's voice continues smoothly. "We would advise you not to escape or try to use your abilities. The compound is fully locked and I have a machine controlled sniper aimed at you twenty four seven. Have a good day."

Seongwoo growls and slams his hand into the iron door. 

"Have a good day." The woman repeats, and he laughs.

"Go fuck yourself." He tells her, and she stays silent. He sits down on the mattress, taking stock of his surroundings. The room is tiny, with one bed at one side and a table at the other. He touches the table, testing its weight. It's too heavy to move, and he presses his fingers into the wood, trying to make his imprint.

The flame does not spark from his fingertips, and Seongwoo curses again for the fun of it. Of course the room is coated in iron. Typical Ahn Junyoung. 

He's got two windows at least. One is above his bed, where he can see a sky filled with night stars. It's pretty, and he tries to match the sight to the numerous skies he's seen. The entire display stutters, and suddenly he's looking at a warm sunset. Right. He's in prison. 

The other window is above the table, and he looks into it to see another person's room. The contrast is striking, with the other room draped with curtains and expensive furniture. He pouts.

"Why don't I get a room like that?" He asks the camera perched in the top corner of his room. No answer.

There's a little window in the door too, and Seongwoo goes over to see. There are three doors on the other end of the corridor.  

"Ong Seongwoo, step back from the door." The woman says suddenly, and he grins.

"I don't want to." He says. 

"There's an energy forcefield around the door." She observes cooly. "Step back, Ong Seongwoo."

He retreats, and the door slides open. 

"Hello." The man smiles at him. It's not a nice smile, and Seongwoo doesn't like it. Daniel smiles nicer. "This is your dinner."

He shoves a tray across the door, and he curls his lip. It's a dog bowl, and he takes the apple placed in it, flinging it at the man's face.

The apple disintegrates into ashes, and he pales.

"Have fun." The man sings, and he curses at him. "You can meet your dormmates at bonding time! That's in ten minutes, so you should clean up. The door will open automatically then and the forcefield will be turned off."

The door shuts, and Seongwoo goes back to the table to sulk. Damn Daniel and his stupid decision to bed him. That boy was too much work to handle.

Seongwoo picks a book up from the table, flipping through the pages before ripping page after page out slowly. It's tedious, but it numbs his mind.

True to form, the doors slide open ten minutes later. Seongwoo is ready with his stack of shredded paper, and he flings the entire bundle out to test if the forcefield is still standing. It isn't, and he follows the green arrows on the floor to a make believe living room. There are four men clustered in the centre next to a false fireplace, and they glance at him. Seongwoo bites his lip, walking around the corner of the room to the bookshelf. He opens one. It's empty, and he shoves it back, feeling like he's been rejected by the bloody book.

"Rookie." Seongwoo turns to see a man with messy hair eye him appreciatively. "What happened to you, rookie?"

"My name is Ong Seongwoo." He snaps back, gnashing his teeth. The man tilts his head, question ready on his lips. "Not Gong, not Hong, but Ong. Seongwoo."

"He slept with Kang Daniel and went mad." Someone chimes into the conversation. The person speaking has a pink hoodie on, and he's beautiful. Seongwoo has to admit that. His eyes are a little unnerving, with one flashing blue and the other gold. "Hello, Seongwoo. My name is Minhyun, and I've been waiting for you."

"Was that supposed to be creepy?" He asks, and the boy next to him laughs. Seongwoo inspects the party with new eyes. Messy Hair has a big mouth and slanted eyes with a jagged scar on his neck and more scars all over his forearms. He has no piercings and no tattoos to note of, and the clothes he wear are identical to everyone else. Next to Messy Hair is Minhyun, and next to Minhyun is Another Hot One.

Another Hot One has black hair falling into his eyes and full lips to die for. He's as beautiful as a model, and Seongwoo doesn't meet his gaze. Instead Seongwoo studies the multiple piercings and tattoos he has, including a one written in Latin around his neck like a choker. The most normal looking of the four of them is the smallest one, curled into his own personal armchair and reviewing what looks like law papers. Seongwoo inches closer to see, surprised to see the black words are handwritten. He's cute.

"That wasn't the idea." Minhyun says, and his blue eye glows slightly. "I've been waiting, really. All of us. How long has it been, Jaehwan?"

"Three hundred and fifty three days." Messy Hair runs his fingers over the wooden table. There are lines carved into it, and he swallows when he sees how long Jaehwan's fingernails are.

"He's not mad." Small One says, and Seongwoo glances at him. "He pretends to be so people don't expect anything from him."

"What are you, a mind reader or something?" He demands.

"Or something." Small One echoes, putting a hand out to shake his. "My name is Kim Jonghyun, pleased to meet you."

"Can't say the same, under these circumstances." He mutters in return, taking his hand and sitting himself down. Another Hot One chuckles.

"My name is Patrick Kwon." He says with a straight face, but Seongwoo's an actor. 

"Is that your real name?" He asks, and Patrick shrugs.

"Nope." He announces unapologetically.

"Hyunbin, stop screwing with him." Jaehwan says, and Patrick (Hyunbin?) turns away to sway at him.

"Why have you been expecting me?" Seongwoo asks Minhyun.

"Boy of fire." The other says, and he clenches his fists. "We're going to break out, since you've arrived."

"That's nice." Seongwoo says in the sudden silence that ensues. "Um, I already have a breakout plan."

"Let's say Kang Daniel is going to be incapacitated for the next month or so." Minhyun grins like a conspirator. "No way out that way, Seongwoo."

"What happened?" He grumbles, hiding his panic. 

"Nothing much, just that Daniel is going to realise how much he loves you." Minhyun leans forward and deposits his feet on the table. "Might drive him a little bit more into depression."

"About time." Seongwoo relaxes. At least Daniel's not in life threatening situations again.

"Minhyun." Jonghyun says suddenly, and the door swings open. Seongwoo jumps to his feet, and Ahn Junyoung walks in. He snarls, running forward to rip the guy's head off, but Jonghyun is on his feet as well. The small man places a hand on his chest and  _shoves,_ pushing him back down onto the seat.

"Ahn Junyoung." Jonghyun says, standing over Seongwoo to block his sight. Hyunbin chambers over the back of the couch and smooth Seongwoo's hair down. It calms him. "What do you want today, you asshole?"

"What a pleasant sight, seeing all my favourite dickheads in one room." Junyoung says pleasantly.

"You're missing one of your favourites." Seongwoo calls from behind Jonghyun.

"Ah well, Kang Daniel will come, with time. Since you're here." The leech simpers. "We'll be ready for him then."

"Don't you  _dare-"_

"Shut up, Seongwoo." Hyunbin bites, and suddenly Seongwoo can't talk. He frowns, sitting back into the couch. He'll get his way sooner or later in Ahn fucking Junyoung's murder.

"New mission." Junyoung presents Jonghyun with a file, and the man takes it. "You can bring Seongwoo along. Explain to him about the things, and you leave in one week. That's all."

Jonghyun throws the file onto the table, and Jaehwan flinches.

"Out." Jonghyun insists, and Junyoung retreats. " Jesus Christ. Hyunbin."

Hyunbin lets go of Seongwoo, and says: " Sorry, you can talk now."

"What the  _hell_ was that?" He rounds on him. "What mission? I'm not working for Ahn-"

"You have no choice." Hyunbin points out. "You're in prison, brother. Play by the rules and get rewards. It's the only way you will survive here until Minhyun-hyung says we can go."

"Why does Minhyun call the shots?" He blurts, and Jonghyun picks up the file.

"He doesn't." He says, and his voice carries through the room. "I do."

Seongwoo baulks.

"I'm a compeller." Hyunbin confesses as Seongwoo is forced by the sheer intensity of Jonghyun's gaze to remain seated. "Minhyun-hyung has the gift of prophecy, and Jaehwan-hyung's bloodthirsty and actually mad."

"What about you?" Seongwoo asks Jonghyun, and his jaw tightens.

"He's a collector." Minhyun speaks up, smiling gently. "He copies the abilities of others by touch."

"Touch?" Seongwoo looks at Jonghyun in disbelief. "You touched me!"

Jonghyun shrugs.

"I don't know you." He declares. "I value the safety of my team, Ong Seongwoo. I will not have a wild card jeopardizing all of us."

"Fair enough." Seongwoo sniffs. "How many powers does Jonghyun have?"

"Many." Jaehwan comments, carving another line into the table. "He can fly too."

"The fuck?" He asks. "Why don't you just fly out?"

"All physical powers here are capped." Jonghyun says, passing around pictures. "You should know that."

Seongwoo swallows and takes the picture.

"I know this guy." He vouches. "Ha Minho, he's a drug dealer that used to be under Ahn but he rebelled and ran away. Now he sells diamonds."

"What else?" Jaehwan asks, peering over his shoulder.

"Insiders say Ha Minho refused to sell his business to Ahn, who's the major supplier of illegal jewels." Seongwoo smiles deceptively. "I would imagine his elimination has something to do with that."

"Thank you." Jonghyun says. He shows them the inside of the file, and Jaehwan picks out a piece of tissue with the words "Kill him." written in red ink. "We now have to kill the guy."

"What a party." Hyunbin says, arranging the photos back into the folder and pulling out the sole piece of information inside. "Minhyun, we need his schedule."

The man gets to his feet, stretching.

"Nice to meet you, Seongwoo." He shakes his hand one more time. "I'm going to sleep now, goodnight."

"Night." The others echo, and Jonghyun pats his back as he leaves.

"First day and he's on a mission." Jaehwan puts a hand on his thigh, and Seongwoo briefly considers ripping it off. "What a lucky guy."

"Stop teasing him before he starts to hate you." Hyunbin says disapprovingly. "I'm twenty one, how old are you?"

"Twenty three." He says, and Jaehwan releases him.

"Ah, so you're a hyung." Hyunbin beams at him. "Jaehwan-hyung is twenty two, and Minhyun and Jonghyun are twenty three."

"I'm going to bed too." Jonghyun butts into the conversation. "Go to sleep, we start training tomorrow."

"Please no, hyung." Jaehwan whines, and he shoots him a pointed look. 

"I heard they brought blood bags to make the experience more realistic for the first timer." Jonghyun nods towards Seongwoo, and Jaehwan whoops, getting to his feet and highfiving him before he leaves. "Goodnight you two, please wake up when you hear the alarm tomorrow morning."

"Yes, hyung." Hyunbin chirps, and Seongwoo sees a flash of kindness in Jonghyun's eyes.

"It's not too bad here." He tells him, then hesitates before slipping out of the door.

"It's been a long day of utter boredom until you turned up." Hyunbin says, hauling himself to his feet too. He pulls Seongwoo up with one hand, then they both walk towards their cells. "I'm going to go sleep. You should, training is always extra hard on the first day."

"Thank you." Seongwoo surprises the both of them. "I... goodnight."

"Night." Hyunbin says, closing the door behind him. He steps into his own cell, and the doors slam shut behind him.

He misses Daniel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave me a comment to make me happy!!!


	3. act 1 : why do you think he's been here so long?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the number of plot holes in this bothers me so much omg.... I went back to read everything and I fixed some stuff but I'm rushing between classes so i just decided to post it first

**ACT 1 SCENE 2: SEONGWOO**

The alarm jolts him up from the bed, and he's on his feet immediately looking for the source of the blood curdling scream. His door slides open and Seongwoo flings his second stack of paper through, relieved when it doesn't burst into flames. 

"Good morning, hyung." Jaehwan says from the cell diagonally across. He's on the way back from somewhere, a towel thrown across his shoulder. "Go wash up in the communal bathroom there."

Seongwoo blinks rapidly and steps out into the corridor. There's a burst of white light from the cell next to his, and he squints against it, moving to the bathroom. Washing up quickly, he changes into the set of black clothes (so  _boring)_ and walks back out. The white light is still blinding, and he stops outside the door. Minhyun steps out from his cell and raps quickly on the light infused cell, and Seongwoo steps aside as Hyunbin runs past him to get to the bathroom.

"Wake up." Minhyun reminds the door, and the light shuts off immediately. The tall man turns to sit on the floor outside his own cell, and Seongwoo copies him. Jaehwan's already on the floor, head tilted back to rest against the door. The cell swings open, and Jonghyun steps out, fully dressed.

"Where were you last night?" Jaehwan demands, and Jonghyun flushes.

"Around." He says softly, then greets everyone. Seongwoo frowns.

"He was in the room last night with us." He points out.

"That wasn't him." Jaehwan says intently. "That was a projection."

"What?" He stutters, and Jonghyun smiles apologetically.

"Sorry, wasn't feeling too well last night." This Jonghyun seems different. "Nice to meet you."

Seongwoo takes the hand again warily.

"What does Jaehwan mean?" He asks, and Jonghyun ushers them down the long hallway. "You can leave?"

"I project myself." The leader shrugs. "I'm different from all of you guys, though. I chose to be here."

"You chose to work for  _Ahn Junyoung?"_ He spits, and he smiles sadly.

"I didn't fight it when he brought me in here." He mumbles. "I knew I was going to meet you guys, so I stayed."

"Jonghyun and I met when we were children." Minhyun chips in. "We played together on the swings. That's how he got my ability, but everything comes with a price."

"Jonghyun-hyung gets visions all the time." Jaehwan pats Jonghyun's shoulders. "He was depressed for a long time."

Seongwoo blinks at the three of them.

"How long have you been alive?" He asks in disbelief, and Jonghyun shrugs. He looks old suddenly.

"I've been twenty three for ten years." He gestures to Minhyun. "Must have picked that up from him. We were born months apart."

"Then how long have you been here?" He questions, and Jonghyun looks at the floor.

"Days, months, years?" He tilts his head. "It blends together after a while. Ahn Junyoung never sent me out to work until Jaehwan came in."

Seongwoo falls into watchful silence, then hears a resounding crash from the bathroom.

"He fell down again." Jaehwan shakes his head fondly as they stop outside, waiting for their youngest to finish.

"Did you figure out Ha Minho's schedule?" Hyunbin asks Minhyun once he's finished washing up, and everyone moves back into the living room.

"I wrote it down here." Minhyun waves a clipboard. "Hold on, I'll pen it down on the board so you all can see."

 Jonghyun passes them the trays of food from the security guards, and Seongwoo is pleased to see it looks like an actual meal.

"Eat while you can." Hyunbin waves a spoon at him. "The Facility stops putting the drugs in our food one week before the mission."

 _"Drugs?"_ Seongwoo asks faintly.

"We'll tell you more if the time comes." Minhyun smiles. "Eat up, Jaehwan's going to push us through training later."

 

Jaehwan's  _mad._

Seongwoo regrets his acting suddenly, feeling like he's been too obvious. Playing dumb and stupid is one thing, but Kim Jaehwan is another thing altogether.

"Run faster!" Jaehwan calls from the treadmill he's on, leaning over to increase the speed on Seongwoo's.

"Don't-" He chokes, but forces his feet to move faster. Jaehwan looks like he's having fun beating him up, and he grits his teeth, pushing for another thirty minutes. He's picked up by Hyunbin from the floor later and deposited in a makeshift fighting ring.

"Can you fight?" Hyunbin asks, and Seongwoo drags himself to position. "I'll go easy."

Seongwoo fights with all his strength, but Hyunbin takes over him in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, Jaehwan and Jonghyun are going neck to neck, exchanging blows that make him cringe. Jaehwan kicks Jonghyun's knee, bringing him down with a right hook, but Jonghyun spins out on the floor and trips him. Hyunbin lets them pause to watch them, and Jonghyun pulls Jaehwan into a chokehold. 

"No blood, Jaehwan-ah." Minhyun reminds from where he's shooting bullets into the wall inlaid with cross marks. Jaehwan roars, flipping over Jonghyun and wrapping an arm around his neck. Jonghyun anticipates it, swinging an elbow into his side. Jaehwan chokes, and Minhyun tosses his gun at them. Jonghyun gets him, puts a knee on the floor and a foot on Jaehwan's chest, and reaches for the gun. In the short amount of time he in unbalanced, Jaehwan yanks on his ankle, pulling him forward and flipping the both of them over, sitting on top of him. Jonghyun grins lazily, putting the gun to Jaehwan's temple.

"You lose." He teases, and Jaehwan releases him. "Jaehwan-ah, you'll never beat me."

"I can try." Jaehwan snatches the pistol and throws it back to Minhyun. "Minhyun-hyung, you're not supposed to help."

"We're not supposed to be working for the world's greatest bastard." Hyunbin quips, and Jaehwan growls deep in his throat.

"Again, hyung." He insists, and Jonghyun wipes off his sweat with a white towel before indulging him in another round.

"Minhyun is a sniper?" Seongwoo asks Hyunbin, and the younger nods.

"Jaehwan likes close combat, since his skin's impenetrable." He waves at the both of them on the floor. "It's why he practices with Jonghyun-hyung the most, since he can't break his skin and see the blood."

"When you say blood thirsty..." He blinks, and Jonghyun's on top of Jaehwan again.

"I mean literally." Hyunbin replies, picking up a long staff from the floor and passing it over. "He enjoys bathing in the blood of his victims, and if he sees blood flowing from somewhere he instinctively wants to see  _more."_

"My skin isn't impenetrable." Seongwoo says with dread.

"Jonghyun-hyung will fix it." Hyunbin tells him quietly. "Why do you think he's been here for so long? He's Ahn Junyoung's favorite pet, because he's filled with possibilities. Now hold the staff with two hands and whack the hell out of me."

Seongwoo balances the light material in his hands, feeling the grip on it. He likes it.

 

He makes it back to his bunk bruised and spent, and passes out once his head touches the pillow. The next morning, he flings himself off the bed when the screaming starts. Rinse and repeat.

 

"You ready?" Minhyun asks, and Seongwoo holds the staff in his hand, swinging it experimentally. 

"I guess we'll see." He grins back, and Minhyun shoves him lightly.

"If you need help, tell us." He says, tapping the earpiece in their ears. They adjust their face masks, making sure none of their features can be seen. Minhyun has red contacts in today to disguise his normal eyes.

"I don't think I'll be of much use today." He replies, tossing the staff into the backseat and checking his blindspot before he drives out.

_"Target is in his home and has sent away his guards."_

"Got it." Seongwoo replies, parking quickly and opening the door. He grabs Minhyun's bag of guns from the boot and running towards the skyscraper opposite Ha Minho's apartment. Minhyun's already got into the lift, and they grin at the security guard. Seongwoo hits him with the bag, and he drops. He swipes his access card, tapping it in so Minhyun can press the eighty fourth floor. 

"This music is tasteless." Minhyun says in horror after shooting the camera in the corner of the lift. "What has happened to society?"

"How long has it been since you were out?" Seongwoo asks in amusement, tapping his feet as the elevator ascends. The view outside is pretty, and he watches the city lights as they move up the building.

"Two months." He laughs and punches him in the arm.  It's strangely easy, their relationship. Seongwoo just tries to ignore the part where Minhyun knows all about him already.

 _"Target is in the bedroom watching a movie."_ Jaehwan sighs.  _"JR, can I just go in?"_

 _"Stay where you are."_ Jonghyun orders.  _"We want this to be as bloodless as possible."_

 _"The hell did you bring me along for?"_ Jaehwan complains. The lift chimes, and the doors open. They creep out, approaching one of the ceiling to floor glass windows. Seongwoo lays out the equipment, aiming the laser at the glass and punching a hole big enough for Minhyun to aim.

 _"Target has gotten up, approaching rooftop garden."_ Jaehwan reports off handedly.  _"Min, you should get ready."_

"I am, Jae." Minhyun grits between clenched teeth, lining up his sniper to the dark shape standing on the rooftop. "Ready. JR?"

_"Fire at will."_

**_"I don't think so."_ **

"Who is this?" Seongwoo asks, and the unknown interceptor laughs.

_**"Ha Minho speaking."** _

_"Fuck!"_ Jaehwan curses. Hyunbin hasn't spoken the entire time, and for that he's grateful. 

 _ **"Interesting. I didn't think Ahn Junyoung valued that deal so much."**_ Seongwoo watches the figure step on to the edge of the building.  _ **"Should I just step off? It'll make your lives easier."**_

Seongwoo taps Minhyun's shoulder, and the other begins to pack his sniper away. They've been compromised, and Jonghyun's run them through enough drills to know what to do. 

 _ **"Who's the new kid, though? I hear he's pretty good."**_ The figure gets back down onto safe land, and he frowns. Damn it.  _ **"Let's play a game. I'm having a ruby party next Thursday, and I have five invites sent to Junyoung. I would like you to be present."**_

 _"We'll think about it."_ Jonghyun says, voice smooth.

 _ **"I hope you do."**_ Minho says, and Seongwoo and Minhyun step into the lift.  _ **"I've got a little parting gift for my friends close by. Next time, boys."**_

 _"Rookie and Min,"_ Jonghyun commands.  _"I must have the both of you back by tonight."_

"Yes, sir." Minhyun says, and Seongwoo watches nervously as the numbers count down. Minhyun turns off his headset, and shoots it with his gun. He holds out a hand to him, exchanging the headset with a pistol.

"I don't know how to shoot well." He tells him tiredly.

"You do." Minhyun says. "You can also pick up a baton from the security guard on the floor."

"Right." He says, wetting his lips. He slips the pistol into his backpocket and picks up the baton, twirling it in his hands. The lift door chimes again, and the doors open. 

There's five of them, and Minhyun shoots two in the head in one shot. Three more to go.

Seongwoo steps out first, kicking the security guard's body to holds the lift door open as Minhyun aims again. He brings down the baton, hissing when something sharp jabs into him. They have knives, and the blade sings across his belly. 

"Knives!" He shouts back, and cracks someone's knee before shooting them in the head with the pistol. Running back, he jumps on one of the men, wrapping his legs around the neck, holding on as the man whirls to get him off. Minhyun shoots the last one, and Seongwoo twists his legs, hearing the snap and rolling once his victim hits the floor.

"That won't be the last of it." Minhyun says, stepping over the bodies. "We need to go. Now."

 

"What the hell happened?" He snaps, flinging his backpack down on the table. "Jonghyun?"

"The comms were intercepted." Jonghyun says calmly. "Which means we can't use them anymore. We need a new system."

"That's not the point." Seongwoo insists. "Minhyun, can't you see the future?"

"I can only see up to the point where we intefere." He admits. "It's pretty limited."

"Pretty limited my ass." Seongwoo snarls. "I'm not going out there again!"

"Calm down." Hyunbin sighs, and the fog begins to creep into his mind. He takes a seat.

"Seongwoo, we are attending the ruby party." Jonghyun says. "Hyunbin, tell us more about it."

"It's a party centred around Ha's new mine in Southern Africa." Hyunbin holds up one blood red invitation. "Red theme, ruby encrusted door gifts, dinner with other bastards. The usual."

"Except this time he'll try to find out who we are." Jaehwan points out.

"It's a masquerade party." Hyunbin says, passing it around for inspection. Seongwoo has the desire to burn it up, although the flame doesn't spark.

"When can I use my powers?" He asks the leader.

"At the ruby party." Jonghyun says. "For now, we want to keep your identity secret."

"No one knows I play with fire." He tells them.

"Dan does." The smaller insists. "If he sees you with us now, he will come. Do you want him here?"

"No." Seongwoo drones, then gets up, pacing the room. "Why do you call him Dan? Do you know him or something?"

Jonghyun's eyes shutter, and he returns his gaze back to the invitation.

"Must be because you keep calling him Dan in your head." He says smoothly, but Seongwoo sees Minhyun narrow his eyes at him.

"Next time it's my party." Hyunbin warns. "Minhyun-hyung and Jonghyun-hyung can help me, but Seongwoo-hyung and Jaehwan-hyung might be exposed."

"Can you push a little bit of power to the both of us?" Jaehwan asks, and Jonghyun nods.

"I'll conduct the path on Wednesday afternoon." He decides. "It'll wear off quickly though."

"And you'll be tired." Minhyun comments.

"I'll be fine." He insists.

"You better be." Seongwoo frets. "I'm going to die if you don't."

"I won't let you." Jonghyun says calmly. "You're part of the team now. We told you on the first day, didn't we?"

"I heard." He frowns.

"I take care of my team." Jonghyun looks around, making eye contact with all of them. "I don't care what happens to me, but all of you will be safe. You must be."

"Yes, hyung." Jaehwan says quietly, and Seongwoo sighs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can someone reccomend me good fics to read omg tbh i h8 scrolling through the tags & I've never read more than five fics from pd101 :-( there was this rlly good hunger games ongniel fic but i lost track of it im upset


	4. act 1 : isn't loving him enough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dan is coming in!!

**ACT 1 SCENE 3: SEONGWOO**

Seongwoo's dressed in a dark red suit the colour of blood, and he touches it gingerly with his fingers. He knows it's expensive fabric just by the thread count.

"I would really appreciate it if I could have  _results."_ Ahn Junyoung snaps. "I hope you have not forgotten my promise."

"What promise?" He asks, and Hyunbin holds his hand.

"It's nothing." He murmurs, but Jaehwan begs to differ.

"We haven't forgotten." He hisses venemously, and Junyoung laughs in his face.

"Stop it and get out." Jonghyun says, voice deepening. Junyoung pats his head.

"Be a good boy and everything will be okay." He coaxes, and Jonghyun grabs his wrist.

The alarm goes off immediately, and Junyoung shrieks.

"Let go of me!" He shouts, but Jonghyun's grip tightens. "JR, I swear to  _God_ I will kill them if you-"

"Hyung, Sewo-" Jaehwan begs, and Jonghyun releases him. Junyoung backhands him across the face, Jonghyun's head snapping to the side, then backs out.

Minhyun goes over to touch him, and Jonghyun tightens his jaw, passing his palm over his face. His face goes back to its original colour, the red mark disappearing.

"Hyung, I'm sorry." Jaehwan whispers, and Hyunbin looks away. Their leader sighs, and Seongwoo gestures to Minhyun.

"What happened in there?" He questions once they step outside.

"Junyoung has given Hyunbin poison, and only he owns the antidote." Minhyun says, looking back at them. "Jaehwan's boyfriend, Sewoon, works as a technician in the factory, but Ahn removed his memory. Sewoon is now held as blackmail over Jaehwan."

"How does that-" Seongwoo peeks into the room, voice dying off as he sees Jonghyun's arms around the two young men.

"Jonghyun will never let Hyunbin die. If Sewoon dies, Jaehwan will kill himself." Minhyun smiles sadly. 

"But what about you?" Seongwoo asks. 

"I love him." Minhyun says simply. "Isn't that enough?"

Somehow, he thinks it is.

 

"You never said why you hate Ahn so much." Jaehwan says, and Seongwoo's hands tighten on the steering wheel. 

"Dan and I started to take in kids about three years ago." He replies, focusing on the traffic light ahead. The light goes green, and he steps on the accelerator. "We wanted to do something good for once, so we brought all these troubled children in. They were so young, and so much potential too. Ahn has always tried to capture Dan, because of his powers and his control over the arms industry. He found our home and burned it to the ground, with all the kids inside. I managed to save two, but I couldn't save the youngest."

Seongwoo blinks away the tears in his eyes.

"He was thirteen." His voice is hoarse, but he turns steadily into the next street. "Dan and I were never the same after that. Ahn Junyoung acts all kind and honest, with his stint as the head of his stupid pharmacy, but he's the worst person in the world. He's been trying to build a genetic weapon, to infect the Korean people by using blood samples from donors for his blood drive for leukemia patients. Then he'll introduce the cure, and he will become the most powerful person in Korea."

Minhyun looks up from where he is tying on his mask.

"What a bastard." He hisses, and Jonghyun nods. 

"I'm sorry for your loss." Their leader places a hand on his shoulder. "Once we get- Once we escape, we'll find the antidote, and Sewoon. We'll destroy the genetic weapon."

"Yeah." Seongwoo sniffles, pasting a bright grin on his mouth. "We're here."

 

"Why does your slave not speak?" The lady asks, brushing manicured fingers down Jaehwan's face. Seongwoo monitors them from a distance, grinning into his vodka.

"He's mute." Hyunbin rolls his eyes. "Better this way. None of that useless chatter from mindless peasants."

He sees Jaehwan's jaw tighten imperceptibly, and his reaction is not lost on Jonghyun, who begins to giggle.

_Shut up, hyung._

_Sorry, Jaehwan-ah. It's too funny._

Seongwoo shudders at the voices in his head. He isn't quite used to it, even though Jonghyun had promises that the communication would fade.

Hyunbin's playing an investor from America under the name Patrick Kwon, with Jaehwan as his slave. Meanwhile, Jonghyun and Minhyun are acting as a pair of business partners from a jewellery design company. Minhyun seems to be genuinely into it, complimenting every woman he sees with a genteel smile that makes them swoon.

Seongwoo's just playing Ong Seongwoo, Kang Daniel's crazy lover.

"Ong Seongwoo!" He turns to see Haknyeon, an old friend. Not really an old friend, really, just one of the dealers him and Daniel worked with in the past. "Hello! I knew it was you, even with the mask. Your moles are so distinctive. Where's Daniel?"

Seongwoo falls into character smoothly.

"I don't know." He chuckles, waving around with his glass. "Maybe he isn't here."

"What?" Haknyeon inquire politely, eyebrows starting to draw together.

"We going through a rough patch." He replies, and Haknyeon brow eases.

"Ah." He examines his thin body and general mess, the way he did his hair to expose his forehead but fluff up messily at the back. "I hope you make up! I wanted to talk to him, since Ha said he had sent you two an invite."

Seongwoo laughs a little too loudly, alarm bells going off in his mind. He leans alarmingly close to his ex-dealer, watching the way he stiffens.

"Say, do you want to take a walk?" He tempts, and Haknyeon swallows in fear. "I'm feeling a little bored tonight."

"Sorry, hyung." He replies, eyes darting side to side. Seongwoo tastes his desire to flee, and he knows he's close. "I... I have no intentions to die at Daniel's hands."

"Shame." Seongwoo sits back, and Haknyeon straightens his suit. "Go along."

Haknyeon offers a little sharp bow, and leaves. The moment he's left alone, Seongwoo reaches out hesitantly to Minhyun.

_Min._

_Yes?_

_Is Dan going to be here tonight?_

_He wasn't planning to, as of last night._

Seongwoo relaxes. As long as they don't see each other, they'll be fine. Daniel won't come after him recklessly.

_Ong._

_What?_

_In ten minutes, someone dressed in a black suit with a gold trim and reddish brown hair is going to tell Daniel that you are here._

"Shit." He curses, exchanging a look with Jonghyun. It's Haknyeon. Jonghyun is sitting on the floor, head in his hand as he recovers from the vision. The projection continues talking animatedly to some old lady, making friends with half the room.

_You okay? What do I do?_

_Stop him._

_You sure? JR..._

_Go._

Seongwoo sets down his glass and winds around the front to find Haknyeon. He finds him getting a smoke in the back garden, and he stomps up to him, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around.

"Fuck!" He curses, letting go of him. Haknyeon has silver trim, not gold. "Who's wearing gold trim tonight?"

"What?" The kid warbles, and Seongwoo tightens his grip. "Woojin! I saw Woojin-"

"Fuck!" He repeats. If Woojin is here, it means Daniel has already arrived. Seongwoo keeps the dealer in his grasp, calling for Hyunbin.

_Bin, I need you. Back garden now._

Hyunbin jogs from the back door, stopping to glance at Haknyeon before looking at him.

"Who's this?" He inquires, and Seongwoo shoves the boy at him.

"Make him forget he saw me." He requests, and Hyunbin takes him by the shoulders.

"You didn't see me nor Seongwoo tonight." He persuades, and Haknyeon begins to relax. "You never saw the both of us at all, and we never had this conversation. You felt choked inside, so you came out to have a smoke. In fact, you are just going to look at the stars and light your cigarette."

Haknyeon nods, and Hyunbin looks back at him, giving him a thumbs up.

"Let's go." He smiles gently, like he's trying not to scare him off. Seongwoo looks down at his hands and realises he's shaking. "Hyung."

"Yes." He murmurs, and he slings an arm around Hyunbin as they enter, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Let's dance."

"No." Hyunbin says instead, pushing the two of them to the bar where they have a higher vantage point. "Let's watch."

"Hello everyone!" A man climbs onto the bar countertop next to them, whooping loudly. "Ha Minho speaking!"

Seongwoo inhales, watching him. He's flashy and charismatic, he has to give him that. Ha Minho goes around the room shaking everyone's hand. As expected, Seongwoo leans in for a kiss on the cheek but Minho presses his lips fully to his.

He tries to smile like a Cheshire Cat, even as whispers break out in the crowd. Ignoring his disgust, he trails fingers down his target's face and winks. Minho leaves him with a promise to introduce him to his art collection.

The doors bang open in that instant, and Minho whirls, Seongwoo's heart sinking in his chest. It's Daniel, and he looks like complete shit.

Seongwoo bites his lip.

"Ha Minho!" Daniel grins, coming forward to wrap him in a hug. He senses a thing before it happens even without Minhyun's help. Daniel presses the head of a pistol to Minho's temples, smiling all the while into Seongwoo's eyes. 

"I think we've discussed this, sweetheart." He whispers into Minho's ear, staring intently at Seongwoo. "You don't touch what is mine, and I don't touch yours." 

They let go of each other, and Seongwoo tries to remember his lines, his role. He sniffs, crossing his legs and turning pointedly to Hyunbin. Minho apologises grandly, then leaves them alone and moves on.

"Hyung." Hyunbin hisses, and Daniel is beside them in a moment, banging the pistol onto the table in the middle of them. 

_JR!_

_Wait, I'm thinking. Rookie, keep him preoccupied. I'll try to see what I can do._

"Hello, dear." Daniel grits. "Care to tell me where you've been for the past three weeks?"

"Around." He murmurs. Daniel looks tired, eye bags standing out like bruises. His hair is unkempt and he's dressed in a set of sweatpants like he's just rolled out of bed. Seongwoo looks down to check, and he's wearing pink bunny slippers. Damn right he just rolled out of bed.

"You left me." Daniel accuses, and Hyunbin looks very uncomfortable. "No call, no contact. Three weeks later you wind up in Ha Minho's party with a new boy. What am I supposed to think?"

_JR, help please._

_Break up with him._

"I left you." Seongwoo says, and the words feel alien in his mouth. "You left me first, I'm just returning the favour."

"You-" 

_Got it. Hyunbin, leave first. Seongwoo, leave in five minutes. I'll cover. Don't notice me. Dan knows you too well._

"We are leaving." Hyunbin insists, and Seongwoo flinches as Daniel slams his hand down.

"I don't think so." He snaps. "Seongwoo-"

"Go first." He instructs the kid, and Hyunbin scalpers away instantly, signalling for Jaehwan to follow him. "Daniel, what the hell-"

He presses their lips together, and Seongwoo sighs into the kiss. He also slips a little flip phone into the inside of his suit jacket, fingers slipping against heated skin.

_Seong._

_I know._

He remains unresponsive, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around his lover's neck. He counts, then pushes Daniel away.

The look in his eyes nearly kills him. The kid looks so confused and broken, searching desperately for answers in his eyes he cannot give.

_Start a fight._

Seongwoo's emitting sparks from his despair, but he can only hope Daniel reads it as anger. One lands in someone's unfinished gin, and the entire cup goes up in flames. Daniel spins, and Seongwoo makes a run for it, snaking his way through the crowd.

_Rookie, we are in the car. JR and Min, follow the crowd out and act disorientated. Call for your valet._

He turns in the last moment, watching Daniel turn back to see a projection of Seongwoo. In the split second, his lover frowns at the sight, then looks around and makes eye contact with him.

Seongwoo flees.

 

Ahh Junyoung holds the bottle of antidote in his hands, snarling.

"I said results." He emphasises, and swings the entire bottle onto the floor. Blue liquid seeps across the carpet, and Hyunbin pales. "All I wanted was one death. I did not need a blown up club in the middle of Gangnam!"

"I'm going to up the stakes." He says grimly, and everyone groans from where they are locked in their respective cells. "The next time, I'm going to take out Minhyun's eyes. Do you hear me?" 

The cell next to him lights up, and Seongwoo strains to see. 

"I think you understand." Junyoung continues to pace along the corridor. "You leave again in one week. Ha Minho has been scheduled to his holiday home in Jeju then, so I want minimal casualties, you hear me?"

The light in the room doesn't fade, and Seongwoo sees Hyunbin knock his forehead against the glass of his window.

"Jonghyun?" Seongwoo mouths, and Hyunbin opens his eyes as large as they can go, shaking his head.

Junyoung leaves, and he tries to look into the window he shares with his leader. If he squints hard enough, he can see a dark shape moving quickly around the room, upsetting the furniture.

"Jonghyun!" He calls. 

_Not now._

_Jong, calm down. I'm okay. I'm okay, Jong. We're all going to be okay._

_No, no, nononononoNONNONONONO-_

Seongwoo clutches his head, crumbling to his knees in pain. Jonghyun's pain fills him, and he whimpers.

_Hyung, stop you're hurting us!_

_KIM JONGHYUN!_

The noise goes quiet, and Seongwoo gets onto the chair, helping himself onto the table. He swings around, facing the window. 

The light fades, and Jonghyun is on the remains of his mattress, sitting legs curled up into himself. 

"Jonghyun." He raps on the window. "Come on, buddy. Talk to me."

His leader looks up at him.

"I'm tired." He says simply. "I'm so tired, Seong."

"S okay, Jonghyun-ah." He tries to smile. "You got us. We'll help."

"Thank you." Jonghyun nods, then closes his eyes. The light shines again from him, a little more dull, a little less bright.

Seongwoo hopes that it's enough that the light is still shining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks everyone for recommending me fics to read lol I went through everything with the free time i had today! comment below if I'm writing well or I'm sucky pls help me to improve bc I'm trying to get it screenplay for real and idk ,,, help ??
> 
> also Minhyun looks so skinny rn I'm going to fiGHT YMC BETTER BE TREATING MY BBY BOI RIGHT ELSE THEY BOUT TO CATCH THESE HANDS


	5. act 1 : how hot can you get?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brain: kill him  
> me: why  
> brain: u gotta  
> me: all 3????  
> brain: do it

**ACT 1 SCENE 4**

He sends the message in the middle of the night, a sudden yearning in his chest.

 **ong:** I miss you

Daniel should have the phone tracked by GPS, and he slips it into the heel of his new shoes. He gets a reply minutes later, hiding his phone beneath the blankets like a rebellious teenager.

 **godkang:** i'm ready for you

 

The third time they meet Ha Minho, Jonghyun kisses Minhyun hard before they separate.

"Please." He begs. "Please don't leave me again."

"The first time wasn't intentional." Minhyun replies drily, patting his cheek. "I'll come back, I promise."

They part ways, Minhyun going to his spot in a nearby buildng to shoot. Seongwoo and Jaehwan have been deployed for close combat, with Jonghyun and Hyunbin opposite them.

The house is quaint and pretty. Seongwoo feels sad he has to ruin it with it's master's blood.

_JR, run through the plan._

_Min, try to shoot from where you are. We'll be ready if you can't._

**_Really, we should stop meeting like this._ **

Seongwoo slaps his forehead.

_He's one of us._

**_Well spotted. I'm a copier too, like our infamous JR, just on a lower scale. I only take one power at a time. Thanks for that kiss, Seongwoo. Although Daniel has severed all business with me._ **

_You deserve it. Daniel doesn't_ share.

**_I'll have you know that if you shoot me, I will send an army of machine prototypes to kill all of you. It doesn't matter if I'm dead, really. My secretary will still run things._ **

_Your secretary is dead. I killed her last night._

Seongwoo hides a smile, waiting for the code word.

_You should really take care of your own people. Take notes from Richard Branson._

**_What-_ **

Minhyun fires, the bullet going straight and true. Jaehwan breaks into the house and goes straight to tearing him apart. Seongwoo follows on his heels, dabbing a bit of blood on the DNA tester and matching it to the sample they got from his office. It matches, and he sighs in relief. 

"Jaehwan." He laughs, and the younger stands from where Ha Minho used to be, blood running down his face. Jaehwan looks younger, more energetic now. "He's dead, let's go."

The crickets in the night go silent, and they freeze.

_Get out of there and meet us, now!_

Seongwoo grabs Jaehwan's hand, feeling the slick red clinging onto his skin. They scamper out of the house, looking around for the threat. There's a drone on the outside aimed right at them, and Jaehwan flings the knife before he blinks, then runs ahead of him.

"Come on, come on!" He yells, and Seongwoo follows, skidding to a halt beside Jonghyun.

"He wasn't kidding about the machinery." Jonghyun gasps. "There are men on the way as well. Hyunbin, do what you can with the men, you're not much help skill wise with the robots. Seongwoo, how hot can you get?"

"Hot enough to melt most alloys." He thinks back to the first gun he made out of tin, shaping the metal between his fingers. 

"Jaehwan, focus on the humans as well." Jonghyun instructs. "Go, I hear them from the north perimeter. Hyunbin, sneak into the foliage this idiot installed around the lake."

"Yes, hyung." They report, and run off in opposite directions.

_Minhyun, snipe all the humans in sight. Once they are all dead, report to me._

_Yes, sir._

"Seongwoo, I'm with you." Jonghyun mutters. Seongwoo sees the glint of metal under moonlight, and he gets on his knees just as the bullets start to fly. The house is bombed first, predictably. Seongwoo unleashes fire on the first line of cranking machinery, watching the circuits spark from overheating and hearing the fuses blow.

Jonghyun tries to use his fire as well, but it's not strong enough to melt the robots from the outside.

"Jong, you have to aim right into the circuit." He suggests, and Jonghyun rips into his protein bar, chewing it before throwing the rest aside. He flies up into the air, rolling to avoid the bullets. While the robots aim for the moving target, Seongwoo advances towards them. He starts from the back, using his fingers to rip out wires from the ones with machine guns. He hears the screams from where Hyunbin is supposed to be, and he focuses back on the task at hand, slipping into the lake to watch. The main controller is the largest robot, and he sees it immediately. The robot rolls on its wheels, tank-like, and Seongwoo gives himself a moment to breathe before running.

The robots divert their attention from Jonghyun to him immediately, giving the leader time to aim and fire. It works, but Seongwoo has a hard time under the rain of bullets, setting fire to the exterior of the tank before ripping open the control valve.

A bullet strikes him in the side, and he howls, slipping off the tank. The robots return their attention back to Jonghyun, who begins a series of dangerous air manoeuvres. Seongwoo presses himself into the long grass and reaches into his boot for the small hand grenade.

Uncorking it with his teeth, he grabs the wheel of the tank and hoists himself up, flinging the grenade into the control system. 

_Five, four, three-_

He pushes off from the tank, igniting himself to give him more energy. Landing somewhere in the lake, he releases a plume of steam and emerges coughing.

_Good job, Seongwoo._

The wail of the police cars near, and he sees them first.

 _I don't think they're the right kind of police._ He suspects, putting the compressed telescope to check.  _They have Ha's symbol tattooed on the back of their necks._

_Kill them all._

Seongwoo swims to the edge of the lake, pulling himself out before starting the leopard crawl to the pine of cars.

"Hyunbin!" He shouts over to the man, who has already began whispering in their ears. The spell is broken immediately, and the men turn to check for the source of the sound. "Clear out!"

Hyunbin drops from the tree, running to safe ground, and Seongwoo exhales largely, letting the fire overwhelm the army. The smell of charred flesh fills the air, and he grins wildly.

 _That's not the last of them. There are more coming in from the west._ Minhyun reports. Jonghyun lands in the grass next to him, checking the wound in the short time window they get. He passes his hand over, and the bullet emerges from his skin.

He yowls with pain, but Jonghyun focuses on putting the skin back together. Hyunbin rips off a piece of cloth from his shirt to wipe away at the blood.

_Jaehwan, Seongwoo is bleeding. Hyunbin will bring you._

They hear him before they see him, stamping over the bodies. Hyunbin covers his eyes, and Jonghyun conducts the path between the four of them.

"Impenetrable skin now." He announces, and turns to Hyunbin. "I need some energy."

"You just woke up from a long nap." Hyunbin soothes. "You feel rejuvenated and energetic, don't you?"

"Thanks." Jonghyun says, eyes closed. "Jaehwan, I might need your strength later."

"Okay, hyung."

_Boys, incoming._

 

They fight for what seems like hours, wave after wave of machinery and men arriving like flies.

 

Seongwoo's little flip phone buzzes in his backpocket, and he whips it out to see the message.

 **godkang♡:** come home

He shoves it back in his pocket, blazes a few of Ha Minho's men with his fire, and leaps to his feet. Someone drags him back down, and he snarls, only to be met with Hyunbin. Their eyes meet, and then a grenade is flung right next to them. Hyunbin kicks it away, staring at Seongwoo before he nods and slips the phone back into his pocket.

"Go, hyung." He smiles. "I'll cover you."

"No compulsion?" Seongwoo asks, eyes glittering as he sees the helicopter near.

"Go. Quick, before Jonghyun-hyung sees." Hyunbin repeats, shoving the both of them to their feet. He picks up the pace, timing the leap between the open helicopter and the edge of the building. He sees Jonghyun in the air, spinning between waves of machinery and humans, and Jaehwan surrounded on all sides cursing about the lack of blood.

 _"Fall down!"_ Hyunbin roars next to him, and he stumbles slightly.  _"Shoot each other!"_

He runs through the gunfire, feeling bullets drop like rain around him. A few graze his skin, but he can see Daniel smiling, arms wide open. The helicopter is the dirty green one they bought with their first paycheck, and Seongwoo smiles at how sentimental Daniel is.

"What's he doing?" Jaehwan crackles into his headpiece. "Hyunbin, Hyu-"

Seongwoo leaps from the edge, projecting himself to the top of the rope extended to his fingers. He holds on tight, and Jaehwan screams at the exact same time Daniel's fingers touch his.

"Hyunbin,  _no!"_

Seongwoo startles, foot sliding as he turns to look. He gasps when he sees Hyunbin bleeding from the shoulder and the leg, and Minhyun curses loudly. The earpiece is a mess of people shouting and the roar of gunfire.

"Retrieve Hyunbin, now!" Jonghyun orders, and Seongwoo watches as the helicopter starts to ascend, and he's growing further from them. Something approaches Jaehwan from behind, a spinning, loud mess that makes him uneasy. He fires, wrapping the spinning object with fire and crashing it to the ground. Jaehwan turns, looks at Seongwoo expressionlessly, then turns away.

Seongwoo turns in Daniel's arms, pressing their lips together messily. 

"I love you." He tells him, and Daniel grins brightly. He looks so alive like this, Seongwoo thinks, contrasted from the picture Minhyun showed him. Contrasted with the way he looked at Ha Minho's ruby party. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

_"Pass him over, I'll heal him."_

_"Hyung, you'll pass out-"_

_"He's going to die if he continues bleeding out, and_ damn it  _if the fucking brat dies on me! Shut up and hand him over!"_

"Hyung-" Daniel says, eyes sharp. "Hyung, what-"

_"Hyunbin, stay with me."_

"I love you, but I cannot leave them behind." Seongwoo presses their lips together again, trying to fit Daniel into his arms and  _remember,_ trying to imprint this very memory into his brain. "I'm sorry!"

He steps off the helicopter, seeing Daniel's shocked face crumble impossibly. Wrapping himself up in a whirl of flames, Seongwoo turns away from his lover and slows his descent to the ground.

"You came back." Minhyun mumbles into his headpiece, and the flames burn away his tears. "Very good, Ong Seongwoo."

"Shut up." Seongwoo hisses, pulling out one of his earpieces. He unleashes hell on anyone he sees, throwing ball after ball of liquid fire.

_"Ugh, did Seongwoo-hyung get on the plane?"_

"You stupid little shit!" Seongwoo yells, grabbing a police baton from the floor and bashing in someone's helmet with it. 

_"What the hell- Jonghyun-hyung!"_

There's a nasty crack, and the headset stops working. Seongwoo turns, only to see Hyunbin bent over Jonghyun like a cruel mockery of the earlier scene, head coming down to check if he's breathing. Jaehwan kicks off the side of a robot, bringing it down by pulling the wires viciously. Minhyun's sniper is long gone, and he's somewhere in the mass of clicking machinery, trying to cut every wire he sees.

Minhyun pauses in his whirl of motion, turning to look, and a mechanical hand comes down on his shoulder. He drops, and Seongwoo starts running.

He reaches his teammate before the robot touches him, a good thing. Unfortunately, Minhyun is dizzy and delirious with pain, golden eye stuttering. 

He hauls him to his feet, covering them with a wall of flames. The next metal part that they encounter disintegrates in his rage, and the two of them push through the mayhem to get to Jonghyun. 

"Jaehwan!" Minhyun shrieks, and the man stops fighting, choosing to drop his heavy shield and run towards them. Seongwoo opens up the circle to let him in, and Hyunbin looks up, tears running down his pretty face.

"He's not breathing." He says, and Minhyun's entire being shudders. Seongwoo has no choice but to let him go.

"What about CPR?" Jaehwan runs forward, touching Jonghyun's cheek. 

"Didn't work." Hyunbin ghosts his fingers over the back of his head. His fingers come away drenched in blood. "The debris hit him hard enough-"

"Shut up! One, and two, and three, and four, and five." Jaehwan slams his hands on the ground, pumping Jonghyun's chest with his hands. "One, and two, and three, and four, and ten. Hyung, come on. _Hyung!"_

"Jaehwan-hyung, he's not going to- He's-" 

"Shut up! One, and two, and three, and four, and fifteen. Shut _up,_ Hyunbin! _Fuck!_ Hyung, for God's sake! One, and two, and three, and four, and _twenty!"_

"Hyunbin." Seongwoo says numbly. "Hyunbin, start talking."

"I can't hyung, I _can't._ If hyung turns out wrong-" The boy laments, and he grabs a fistful of his hair. The dry hair crackles under his heated palm.

"Do it." He orders. Jaehwan's jaw is tensed, and he nods at them. Minhyun looks back up, the golden eye looking strangely fractured. Hyunbin pleads to no avail before turning back to Jonghyun's body.

 _"Kim Jonghyun,"_ He intones, steadying his breathing, and Minhyun lets go of him. Seongwoo takes in a deep breath and prays. Jaehwan's restless, shifting on his knees, whereas Minhyun is entirely still, a statue of pain.  ** _"Wake up."_**

Seongwoo can't see him suddenly, because the wall of flames dissipates under a shower of ice.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He curses, turning to stare at Daniel with burning eyes.

"I lost you once." Daniel says grimly. "I'm not losing you again."

Beside them, Jonghyun coughs back to life, wheezing between breaths. Minhyun has him in his arms, and for the first time, Seongwoo sees Minhyun cry, tears of blue and gold running down his face.

"These are the only four you want, right?" Daniel asks, and Seongwoo nods, biting his lip. His lover yanks him over by pulling his arm, and he stumbles.

"If you ever do that to me again," He whispers. "I will kill you. I will kill you, do you understand me?"

"Oh, Daniel." Seongwoo smiles, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "You're just too precious."

"Jonghyun, are you okay?" Minhyun demands, and he turns back. The leader opens his eyes, looks at Hyunbin, and tears begin to slip down his face.

"I saw Dongho." He mumbles, and Minhyun sits back on his heels. "He looked well. He looked happy."

"Shut up." Minhyun slaps his chest, then begins to apologize profusely when Jonghyun proceeds to hack his lungs out. 

"Want to fight?" Seongwoo asks, when he's sure no one is dying. He's got pent up energy from witnessing two almost deaths in ten minutes, his heart jumping in his chest.

"Hell yeah." His boyfriend says angrily, backing off. "Let's kill these assholes."

"Jaehwan!" Seongwoo calls, and the younger is by his side in an instant. "We'll try to kill as many as we can, you defend them. Tell Minhyun to get us transport the fuck out of here."

"Yes, hyung." Jaehwan reports, the only time he's ever listened to him. Seongwoo brushes his hair semi-fondly, then lets him go.

There are a million things incredibly wrong with this situation, a million things he should be worried about. But for now he loses himself in the heat of the battle.

Daniel drags him into the chaos, hollering a battle cry, and Seongwoo echoes it, walls of fire and ice surrounding them.

Together, they could be unstoppable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> infinite just lost Hoya no one touch me I'm screaming
> 
> comment below what you thought about this chapter!!


	6. interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sewoon's debut album is gold pls listen to it it's s o g o O D

**INTERLUDE**

"You shouldn't come with us." Seongwoo tries to convince Daniel, but his lover shakes his head.

"I'm coming." He insists. 

"For what?" Seongwoo yells, shoving him away. "For love? You don't love me!"

"No, but we belong to each other." Daniel looks at the floor, chewing on his lip. "Hyung, the kids can handle it from the outside. We'll ruin him from the inside with your little team. It's all we ever wanted."

"Seongwoo-hyung!" Jaehwan calls from where he is perched in the helicopter. "We have to get back to report."

"Coming." He shouts back, and he takes Daniel's hand, placing the warm palm against his face. "You will regret this."

Daniel scoffs, swinging an arm around his waist and leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Come on." He whispers softly, and Seongwoo begins to walk. They reach the helicopter, with Jaehwan ushering them in quickly. His nostrills flare, and he yanks away from them. Seongwoo looks at Daniel, eyes blown wide. 

"Are you bleeding?" He questions, and Daniel frowns. Jaehwan runs to the other end of the helicopter, shaking his head furiously.

"I got nicked by a knife-"

"Hyunbin!" He yells, and the kid looks at them. "Daniel got cut!"

Hyunbin understands immediately, going straight to Jaehwan and coaxing him to take a nap. Within minutes, the second youngest is asleep, eyes covered by a blindfold.

"What's wrong with him?" Daniel asks, and Seongwoo sits them away as far as possible. He unlocks the emergency cabinet, swiping the rubbing alcohol and gauze to bandage up Daniel's cut. 

"He's bloodthirsty." He confides. "If he had saw the blood underneath your shirt, he would have killed you. His combat skills are incredible."

"Like a Redcap." Daniel mutters, hissing when Seongwoo empties the bottle on the gash. "Shit, hyung. What about the creepy eyed one?"

"Prophecy." He tightens the bandage. "He dreams of the future in his sleep, and he's damn good with guns."

Daniel's eyes spark with interest. 

"Don't. You'll lose." He sighs. "Minhyun grew up on a shooting range and he's eleven years older than you are."

 _"Eleven?"_ Daniel chokes, and Seongwoo hides a grin. "He barely looks older than me!"

"His concept of time is slightly different from us." He mutters. "I think he can slow and speed up time as well, although it takes an incredible amount of energy."

"Hm. What about your boy-toy? The one you brought to the party?" His eyes narrow as he sees Hyunbin curled up next to Jaehwan. "Is there anything-"

"He's just another kid to me." Seongwoo soothes, and he smiles. "He compells, a social gift. If you hear his voice, you'll do anything he'll want you to do."

"He rose your friend there from the dead." He nods over to Jonghyun's passed out form on the bunk. "That's pretty damn powerful."

"He had to do it, but I think he's afraid." Seongwoo sets down the supplies, sitting down next to his boyfriend. "The last person he raised was his suicidal sister. He brought her to life, but she jumped off a building three days later. He's got some trauma there."

"Yikes." Daniel cringes in empathy. "And... your friend?"

"Jonghyun's a copier and conductor." Seongwoo divulges, and Daniel tenses. "What is it?"

"What's his full name?"

"Kim Jonghyun. Why?" He enquiries, startled when Daniel begins getting to his feet and padding towards him. He stands too, chasing after him.

"What do you think you are doing?" Minhyun blocks Jonghyun from Daniel, but the younger is shaking.

"Let me see his face." He pleads, and Seongwoo keeps a hand on Daniel's wrist. Minhyun looks over the both of them, then sighs and steps aside. Daniel rushes forward, taking the wet towel from the water bath and sponging at Jonghyun's grimy face. He stops suddenly, sitting back on his knees.

"Hyung?" He whispers, hands coming to rest on Jonghyun's shoulders. "Hyung, hyung! Hyung, it's me!"

Their leader stirs, eyes opening. Jonghyun blinks at Daniel for a few seconds, the moment hung in the air.

"No." He moans, closing his eyes again. "Not you. You can't be here."

Seongwoo is startled to see Daniel cry.

"Jonghyun-hyung, it's me, it's Dan." He tugs at the front of Jonghyun's shirt, then stops and pulls out the chain from around Jonghyun's neck. There's a singular ring strung on it, and Seongwoo gasps as it catches the light, ducking forward to check.

It's Daniel's family crest.

"You shouldn't be here." Jonghyun moans, half delirious. "Seong, Seong, take him away. He can't-"

"Hyung, it's me." Seongwoo watches, words drying in his mouth as he sees Daniel cry the hardest he's ever seen him. "Hyung, it's Dan, your brother. Come on, hyung."

"Minhyun." Jonghyun groans in distress, and the man is there in an instant.

"I'm sorry." He gestures to Seongwoo to help him. "He needs his rest."

Seongwoo pulls his boyfriend away, and Daniel stumbles in his steps, sitting down suddenly. 

"What the hell was that?" He questions. "Dan! Talk to me."

"Remember the guy I told you about who sneaked me out of the abusive orphanage?' Daniel stutters, then points to Jonghyun. "That's him."

"No way." He mumbles, but a flood of memories assault his brain.

_"Why do you call him Dan? Do you know him or something?"_

_"Must be because you keep calling him that in your head."_

_Don't notice me. Dan knows you too well._

It wasn't only Seongwoo Daniel knew too well. 

 

"Kang Daniel turned up after all." Ahn Junyoung laughs, steeping his fingers under his chin. "And you managed to kill off my rival. Very good job."

"Will you let us go?" Hyunbin asks, the boss laughs.

"Sure." He says indulgently. "In a million years, maybe."

"You dick." Jaehwan says tiredly. Daniel bangs a hand against the door of his cell. 

"Well, I have a reward for our youngest." Junyoung holds up a bottle of blue liquid. "That poison I was talking about? It's fake, just a mixture of glucose and sodium chloride. You fools."

"Fuck you!" Hyunbin howls, slamming his head against the door. Jonghyun's cell doesn't light up. Minhyun leaves, disappearing from sight from his window. Jaehwan mimics him, and Seongwoo suspects that they are talking through their window. "You asshole-"

Ahn continues stalking up and down the corridor, pressing a button on Hyunbin's door. The entire cell goes silent, and the younger slams against the door in protest. 

"I hope you enjoy your new home, Kang." Junyoung grins, wide and nasty. "I'm going to find Woojin and Hyungseob, and I'm going to make them give your sector to me."

"Don't you _dare_ go near them." Daniel growls, flinging himself against the door, he suspects, from the ruckus he's creating. "Don't you walk away from me!"

He can't see Daniel, and that's probably the worst part of the entire situation. Besides the fact that Jonghyun had not moved from his bunk. And Minhyun is injured in the shoulder, without anyone to heal him. And Hyunbin's literally just been brought back from the brink of death. 

And Seongwoo himself is so God damn confused  _why_ the hell he let Daniel come back with him, playing right into Junyoung's hands. Ruin him from the inside, his ass, at this rate Ahn was going to kill Woojin and Hyungseob too, just like how he had killed little Woojin. The plan, stupidly put together by two ignorant bums, is ruined. 

He raps on the window.

"Jonghyun?" He asks, hating how small his voice sounds. "Hey, Jonghyun? We could really use your help right now."

He doesn't stir, and Seongwoo gets off the table, going to press his face up against the glass of the door. He takes a glance left, and a glance right. There's nothing to see except empty grey hallways, the green LEDs on the floor blinking at him in mockery. 

There's a sudden motion at the end of the corridor, and he sees someone (an employee, he bets, from the standard white uniform he's wearing) striding down the hallway. He has a white cap on. 

"Hey!" Seongwoo shouts, and the person jumps. "I'm hungry!"

The person hurries over, turns off the forcefield, and opens the door. He shoves a piece of paper at him, and Seongwoo grasps it, eyes wide in confusion.

Just as he turns the forcefield back on, the person looks up. Seongwoo stares into a pair of eyes, hooded with fear, and his gaze drops to observe this person's face. He's got the gentlest eyes he's ever seen, with a little turned up nose and thin lips.

The person blinks at him, then hurries away. Seongwoo bends to pick the piece of paper up from the floor, turning it over to see a mess of words.

"The fuck?" He asks, turning it over again. There's nothing except what looks like a code of eleven letters and a dash.

**UEWNWNVWE-AQ**

Seongwoo sits down at the table and picks the sole pen from its spot. Furrowing his eyebrows, he thinks, then gets it.

**I REMEMBER - SW**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minhyun is going back to Nu'est's dorms??? fuck yes I'm living


	7. act 2 : are you going to leave him behind?

**ACT 2 SCENE 1 : DANIEL**

The cell is okay.

Daniel sits down on the bunk he's been assigned to and briefly wonders what he was thinking. Maybe he wasn't thinking at all.

 _Ah, then you wouldn't have found Seongwoo and Jonghyun._ His mind whispers, and he bats at the air, trying to dispel the familiar voice.

"Not now." He snaps, and the voice continues relentlessly.

 _You can't love because of one, want to love because of another. Might as well try to solve both problems at the same time._ The voice says wryly, and he frowns.

"Not when Woojin and Hyungseob are in danger." He insists. "Shut up, I don't want to talk to you."

The voice fades away, bless. He goes to the door, peering out of the window. There's someone hurrying away outside, and he looks into the bunk opposite his. It's Minhyun's, from what he saw of the earlier fight. 

Like clockwork, Minhyun appears at the window. He's beautiful, really, but Daniel thinks Seongwoo is cuter. Of course he's biased, but he's just saying.

He tilts his head, and Minhyun copies it. He can't figure the man out. If what Seongwoo says about Minhyun is correct, it means that he can indeed see the future in advance. Why, however, Minhyun did not flee from Ahn's grasp, he cannot understand. The man mouths something across the hallway, and Daniel furrows his eyebrows. They play a game of guess and check until he manages to figure out what's he's saying.

"Check on Jonghyun." Minhyun mouths insistently, pointing to his left. Daniel goes to the window on his right. He's got a view of Jonghyun's desk, and he strains to see the elder. A shoe is spotted hanging off the very edge of the bed frame, and he returns to report back to Minhyun.

Minhyun purses his lips and Daniel hates the ensuring disappointment he feels in himself. Then the older puts out a hand, swiping left and right. Daniel blinks at him, confused.

"Cham cham cham." Minhyun mouths, and Daniel scoffs. The man bangs his hand against the door, sulking, and Daniel rolls his eyes. "Yah!"

Daniel hides a smile, then sticks out his chin, letting Minhyun play with him for a while. Jaehwan appears later, when they're well into a game of scissors, paper and stone. He starts laughing, snippets of the high pitched giggle slipping under the gap in the bottom of the door. He shudders. That's the worst laugh he's ever heard. Minhyun's eyes crinkle at the corners.

They stop a little later, when the doors slide open. Daniel steps back, halting when Minhyun signals for him to pause. 

His neighbour flings a small book outside the door, nodding in relief and stepping out. He then throws the book over to Daniel.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"Checking that the forcefield is gone." Minhyun mutters, gesturing for him to come out. He picks the book back into the depths of his own cell. Jonghyun's door is open, and Minhyun slips in like it's the most natural thing in the world. Daniel meets Seongwoo, pressing their lips together unabashedly. He's surprised when the elder shoves him off, glancing at Jaehwan. Jaehwan's face curdles, and he stomps into Jonghyun's room. Hyunbin shoots the both of them a warning look, eyes swollen and face bloated from crying.

Seongwoo tugs him by the hand into Jonghyun's room. Inside, the entire room is dark and there's a silk rug on the floor. The bed is thicker and he has a blanket around him. The desk is filled with pens and papers strewn around, and everyone settles on to the floor. Minhyun sits on Jonghyun's bed, feeling his forehead.

"He doesn't have a fever." He mutters under his breath. Hyunbin stands to inspect Jonghyun's body for any bumps or broken bones, and Daniel bites his lip as Jonghyun remains unresponsive. 

"Why isn't he waking up?" Seongwoo questions, and Minhyun looks back at him worriedly. 

"I don't know." Minhyun whispers.

"Seongwoo, can't you establish the mind link thing with him?" Jaehwan asks, and Seongwoo sighs. "You always lasted the longest since you're new."

"I can't." He says. "I've been trying."

Minhyun gets to his feet, pacing. He pauses at the desk, stacking up the papers and lining up the pens according to length and colour. Daniel stands, moving to touch Jonghyun's body.

"Hyung." He frets, mouthing the next sentence, feeling the tears burn the back of his throat. "Hyung, I don't know what to do."

"Uh, this might not be a good time." Seongwoo mutters. "I think I just met Sewoon."

 _"What?"_ Jaehwan splutters. 

"Ah." Minhyun sits down suddenly. "So It's started."

"Yeah, he gave me this piece of paper." Seongwoo hands it over to Jaehwan, who takes it gingerly. "It says-"

"I remember." Minhyun continues. "In code."

"Yeah." Seongwoo waves a hand.

"Who's Sewoon?" Daniel asks, and Hyunbin answers him.

"Jaehwan-hyung's ex. His memories were removed when Jaehwan was captured and he was made Ahn's technician for communication systems. He was the one who did our old headsets." 

"If he remembers-"

"It means we have an ally from the outside." Jaehwan folds the piece of paper and puts it in his pocket. "Guys. We might make it out. Hyunbin's no longer in mortal danger."

"We can't." Minhyun snarls suddenly, and everyone looks at him in surprise. "Jonghyun's not going to wake up the same."

"What the hell do you mean?" Seongwoo gasps, whirling in his seat to eye his leader.

"When he wakes up," Minhyun stutters. "He's different. I don't know what it is."

"Shit." Seongwoo curses.

"If Jonghyun-hyung wakes up different what happens?" Daniel asks, taking the still hand.

"It means our strongest player is down." Jaehwan groans. "If he wakes up a different person... He has no moral obligation to stay. He could easily leave us and Sewoon behind."

"He'll die without Minhyun, though." Hyunbin points out. "Without his soul mate, his life span will shorten drastically."

"It doesn't matter if he doesn't remember." Jaehwan counters. Daniel observes the way Minhyun curls into himself.

"Stop it, you're making Minhyun-hyung upset." He snaps. "Are you going to leave Jonghyun-hyung behind?"

"Daniel." Seongwoo places a hand on his shoulder. "It's not us leaving him behind. It's him. He has the power to walk out of here, as long as Ahn can't use us to threaten him."

"Can't he just kill Ahn for us?" 

"If Ahn is dead not by natural means, this entire facility will be bombed in four seconds." Minhyun mutters. "Jonghyun tried to try, but I managed to see the outcome. You can't kill Ahn that way."

"Hyunbin, can't you convince Ahn to die or something?" Seongwoo asks, and Hyunbin shakes his head.

"Ahn takes off his hearing aids whenever he comes by." He grunts. "He can't hear me, so it doesn't work.

"You can induce death." Daniel mutters, surprised when everyone blinks at him in disbelief. "All we need are heart pills. They've got foxglove in them. We grab them on the next mission, pass them to Sewoon to put in his dinner, and we'll walk out."

"That's..." Minhyun ponders. "That's not a bad idea."

"But what are we going to do about Jonghyun-hyung?" Hyunbin asks.

"We wait for him to wake up." Seongwoo insists. "Meanwhile we train as hard as we can, figure out what our new mission is and find out where to get foxglove. And establish contact with Sewoon."

"Fair enough." Jaehwan nods in agreement. "I'll break Daniel in. If you see Sewoon, tell him out plan or write in in code on a piece of paper."

"Good." Minhyun sighs, leaning back in the chair. "I think we might make it out."

"Don't keep your hopes too high." Seongwoo says sullenly. "If Jonghyun doesn't wake up..."

"He will." Minhyun interjects. "But-"

"I just hope he wakes up soon." Daniel says grimly. "Let's just do all we can in the meantime."

Minhyun glances over, and Daniel sees respect in his eyes. 

"Okay, Kang Daniel." He says slowly, getting to his feet. "I'll go sleep and try to see what I can get."

"Your shoulder?" Seongwoo asks.

"I'll deal with it." Minhyun answers, rubbing it.

"Come here, I'll fix it." Daniel chides. "A marksman must always been in top form. Seongwoo-hyung, water."

Seongwoo sets a cup of water next to him, and he dips his fingers in. Pressing the water to Minhyun's red shoulder, he concentrates, finding the muscle and the bruise and easing it away with Minhyun's blood.

"Ow, shit." Minhyun blurts. "How are you doing that?"

"Blood is part water." Daniel murmurs, dousing the entire shoulder in water and massaging it. "It's inside your body, so Ahn can't cap that side of my skills."

"He's going to be useful." Jaehwan notes. 

"Thank you." Minhyun stands once he's done, leaving to close his door behind him. Hyunbin stands as well, face pale. He sweeps out of the room without a second glance back, and Daniel sees Seongwoo stare after him with a worried look on his face.

"What an A Class mess." Jaehwan touches Jonghyun's stomach. "Wake up, hyung. We need you."

Daniel is left with Seongwoo and Jonghyun, the silence deafening. He tries not to look, even as Seongwoo stands and exits without speaking a word to him. 

"Hyung?" He tells Jonghyun. "I missed you."

There's a thrum of a heartbeat under his fingers, and he smooth Jonghyun's hair bacm before getting up to leave.

"Sleep well." He falters, right outside the door. The doors slide closed, and he sighs, stepping into his own bunk. He's so, so tired.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im on hiatus for exams from now until the 6/10!! sorry guys i promise I will come back with more content!! it's why I'm releasing all my chapters at once lol thank you for your support & i hope yall understand ♡
> 
> subscribe for notifications whenever I update!


	8. act 2 : how much did he tell you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> exams are over!!! so happy omg

**ACT 2 SCENE 2 : DANIEL**

Jaehwan breaks Daniel into their routine, and he manages to catch up to them in a matter of a few days. Seongwoo's more muscular now, compared to his original lean, thin physique.

"No one's going to underestimate you now." Daniel tells him as Seongwoo wraps his knuckles in cloth. Minhyun shoots bullet after bullet into a man drawn with chalk onto the wall, cursing under his breath.

"Hm." Seongwoo mutters. "They never should have."

Daniel leaves him to spar with Jaehwan, going to find Hyunbin. His relationship with the kid has warmed, and they often spar together. Hyunbin is still slightly traumatised after Jonghyun's return, and Daniel catches him staring into the distance every once in a while. He's gotten thinner too, with worry. 

Minhyun looks the worst. His eyes aren't blue and gold any more, instead darkening to a deep black. His cheekbones are prominent, jaw cutting relentlessly though his skin. He walks with a limp and smiles with a cost, and Daniel heard him cry at night across the room.

Jonghyun hasn't awoken.

Things went bad during the second night, with Minhyun breaking down so bad Jaehwan sent for Ahn. The man took one look at Jonghyun, pursed his lips, and sent for a professional doctor before leaving. The doctor introduces himself as Jisung, smiling at them kindly. Daniel holds Seongwoo back from punching him in the face, since they needed him still.

"I'm sorry that you are here." Jisung tells them softly as they wait for Jonghyun's door to open. He punches in a code, does a retinal scan, and the doors swish open silently. "Everyone is. People... People don't deserve to be locked up like this."

"Too bad we aren't people." Seongwoo snaps, but Daniel holds on to his hand tightly. Jisung closes his mouth and goes to see Jonghyun.

They turn on the lights, and Jisung asks Jaehwan to push the bed to the middle of the room.

"No external cuts or bruises or gashes." Jisung observes. "You say he was hit by falling debris?"

"Yes." Hyunbin grunts.

"Normally with falling debris, the victim gets cuts all over the forearm and face-"

"Jonghyun-hyung has impenetrable skin." Jaehwan interrupts. "He got it from me."

Jisung's eyebrows rise to his fringe.

"I see." He examines him further, tilting Jonghyun's head with cautious fingers. "And he was hit in the head?"

"Yes." Hyunbin repeats.

"I'll do an MRI on him." Jisung concludes, and Seongwoo pushes himself to the front.

"You're taking him away?" He demands.

"I have to." Jisung replies, removing his gloves. "We only have a machine at the factory for staff. Not here."

"I need to go with him." Minhyun appeals. "We can't be apart for too long, or else his body will start to age dramatically."

"Excuse me?"

"They're soul mates." Daniel says grimly. Jisung's mouth drops open, and he shrugs in defeat after a prolonged pause.

"I'll sign the both of you out. Wait here." He says in defeat, leaving them.

"Hyung, you can find Sewoon and tell him about our plan." Jaehwan says immediately once the doors close. Minhyun sits down on the bed.

"That's a good idea." He replies, turning to Hyunbin. "Bin, your voice..."

"It isn't back yet." Hyunbin murmurs quietly. "No one can know."

"Wait, what?" Daniel questions.

"I used a lot of power to bring him back." Hyunbin confesses, eyes darting side to side. "It took a week the last time-" He cuts himself off, shaking his head. "It'll be a while before I get my power back."

"Shit." Daniel curses, exchanging a look with Seongwoo. It means that Hyunbin is practically useless now, the sole person with a social power and not a physical one. The only ones who have uncapped power are down, and he brings a palm to his forehead.

"I'll tell Sewoon." Minhyun concludes, getting up. Jisung comes through the doors in that instant, with a couple of guards.

"Stand away." They warn, batons crackling with electricity. Seongwoo gashes his teeth at them, and Daniel pulls him away. 

 

The wait is long and torturous.

Hyunbin spars with Jaehwan endlessly, their grunts filling the room. Seongwoo studies Jonghyun's notes, while Daniel picks up a gun and fires repeatedly at the remains of Minhyun's target. They form a pattern eventually, the sounds of punches and kicks a slow drum beat, while Seongwoo turns the page every five minutes. Daniel unloads the bullets methodically, eyes glancing at the door every hour.

When Minhyun returns, everyone crowds around him. Jisung enters much more quietly, standing off to the side and waiting.

"Jonghyun-ssi has brain trauma." He announces when everyone is ready. "The debris hit him hard enough to injure his brain, although Jaehwan's impenetrable skin kept it from spilling out onto the pavement. Excuse my language. If it weren't for Jonghyun's adaptation of Jaehwan's power, he would have died. He did die, actually."

"We know." Hyunbin grits out between clenched teeth. "He stopped breathing for ten minutes."

"Right." Jisung says. "Hyunbin's power brought him back over, but he is now in a coma while his brain recovers. Minhyun says that Jonghyun picked up a healing power?"

"Yes, from his old home." Minhyun places his head in his hands. "A guy called Aron."

"Very well." Jisung huffs. "I cannot tell you when he will wake up, because we have not studied such cases before. I suggest a week or two, but I cannot promise you that he will remember when he regains consciousness. From the scan, I saw that his entire brain was dislodged before it settled back. The shock..."

"We get it, doctor." Jaehwan barks, before softening. "Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome." Jisung says, then he leaves. 

"Minhyun-hyung?" Hyunbin calls. The elder looks up.

"I found Sewoon." He assures. "Like clockwork. Now he knows our plan, and apparently our next mission has been pushed back three weeks for us to heal and for Jonghyun to wake up."

"Is your shoulder better?" Seongwoo asks, and he nods.

"Jisung gave me some pain relief patches to help." He says quietly. Daniel sits down next to him.

"Hyung, I need to talk to you." He says seriously, and Minhyun gestures to him to continue. "In private."

"We get it." Seongwoo says drily, but not unkindly. He ushers the rest out, and Minhyun shifts to a more comfortable position on the couch. 

"You know who I am." Daniel crosses his legs. It's not a question, it's a statement. Minhyun studies him, eyes filled with fatigue.

"Yes." 

"Jonghyun told you." Again, it is not a question.

"Yes."

"How much- How much did he tell you?" He curses the stutter.

"You talk in your sleep." Minhyun's eyes are calm and distant. "You grind your teeth. You had a lisp when you were younger. You loved water. Jonghyun first met you after you threw yourself into a well."

"Why did I throw myself into that well?" 

Minhyun's gaze drops to the table, and his hands clench.

"Your father went into debt and abandoned you at the orphanage. When he committed suicide, you... You tried to go after him." He says, and Daniel watches coolly as he swallows. "You wanted to follow him... so you could kill him yourself."

"I make you uneasy." 

"Very."

"Why?"

"Because Jonghyun loves you, and so do I." Minhyun gazes at him steadily. "But I don't know you. I only know the harm you bring."

"Keep going."

"Jonghyun said he brought you out of the orphanage. You returned two years later and flooded the entire place."

"You question why he has my family ring."

"Your family is mafia, you owe him a blood debt."

"More than that, he's my saviour. I'll be damned if I see him die like this." Daniel shifts in his seat, then leans forward. "I need to be very, very sure that you are his soul mate."

"I know."

"What is my family motto?"

"Without Mercy." Minhyun's eyes shift. "Do I pass your test?"

"You do." Daniel takes off the chain around his neck and gets on one knee. Minhyun is entirely still as he fastens the chain behind his neck. "I now owe you a blood debt as well."

"Okay." Minhyun nods, and Daniel gets to his feet. 

"Hyung?" He asks. "Are we going to be very close?"

"Very." Minhyun agrees with a secret smile. "For now."

 

Hyunbin gets better in a week.

He puts on weight again. He starts to eat normally, even though the drugs in the rice make him groggy. Daniel knows, of course, which types of food not to eat. The boiled vegetables are safe, but not the soups and side dishes. Chicken breast is okay, Jaehwan whispers to him. He eats that too.

Minhyun remains tense, with each passing day. They all tip toe around him, even Jaehwan, who insists that if it wasn't for Jonghyun and Sewoon, Minhyun would have been his. It cracks them up all the time when they hear him talk like that. It's ridiculous.

Jaehwan complains that none of them give him a workout like Jonghyun does. Daniel catches him in the leader's room often, just sitting on the bed and watching him breathe.

"Why do you do that?" He asks, and Jaehwan doesn't move a muscle.

"To make sure he's still alive." He replies, uncertain. His eyes flicker when they look up at where he's standing against the door. "You aren't blood brothers, are you?"

"Does it make a difference?" 

"It doesn't." Jaehwan agrees placidly. "By the way, you should really talk to Seongwoo-hyung."

"Why?" Daniel thinks back the last few days. He doesn't remember doing anything particularly offensive. 

"He's confused about what's going on with you and Jonghyun and Minhyun-hyung." Jaehwan gets to his feet, brushing his knees. "You know he values stability and commitment in his relationships, right?"

"I know." He grits out between clenched teeth. "We've been together for eight years."

Jaehwan makes another placid hum, and Daniel resists the urge to smack him in the face. Jonghyun is motionless on the bed, and he kind of gets what Jaehwan means. Only with a closer look can one tell he's still breathing.

He's as pale as a corpse, chest neither rising or sinking prominently. Daniel turns him on his side, propping him up with pillows, to keep him from getting bed sores. The IV drip Jisung put on him beeps incessantly, and he checks the drip for any blood backflow.

He pauses, seeing the golden liquid seep up the tube. It's his blood, he realises, or part of it. He sees the red too. Jonghyun is still human.

He taps the tube, presses harder on the IV bag, and watches the liquid rush against the air bubbles created from hours of inactivity.

"Hyung, I'm getting along with everyone." He begins absently. "Minhyun-hyung proved himself the other day, so I have him my family ring as well. When we get out of here I'll pick out a nicer one for myself. Seongwoo lost his jade pendant. Apparently someone took it from him..."

He sighs.

"Hyung, when you told me never to trust or love anyone, you..." Daniel stops himself and tries again. "I don't think you met Minhyun at the time. He says he loves you, hyung."

Jonghyun doesn't move, and he watches his chest twitch slightly.

"Hyung, I think I'm in love with Seongwoo-hyung." He confesses softly. "It's going to be okay, right? He loves me too."

He thinks he feels Jonghyun's hand tighten slightly around his, and he smiles.

 

"Seongwoo?" He calls, pulling him aside. "We need to talk."

"Are you finally regretting coming with me?" Seongwoo asks immediately, a hesitant smile playing on his lips. 

"I never regret anything about you." Daniel mutters, and Seongwoo grins. He leans in for a kiss, pressing warm lips to Daniel's cold ones. 

"I love you." Seongwoo says slowly against his lips. "You don't have to say it back. I know your childhood-"

"I love you." Daniel blurts out, tongue lying heavily in his mouth. He studies Seongwoo's shocked eyes, the way his mouth starts to hang slightly open. His lover's hands fall away from where they are tucked around his neck, and he catches his right hand. "Hyung, are you listening?"

"Say it again." Seongwoo insists, disbelief in his eyes. Daniel swallows his pride and his stigma, opening his lips.

"I love you, Ong Seongwoo." He glances up shyly into his eyes. "Hyung, I'm serious."

"You better be." He laughs, and he touches his face. "I love you too, Daniel-ah. So much."

Daniel leans their foreheads together, beaming.

"You're so cute." Seongwoo huffs, and Daniel closes the gap between their lips again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment below ♡


	9. act 2 : are we all on the same page?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait!!

**ACT 2 SCENE 3 : DANIEL**

"Next target." Ahn flings down the file at them, a glaring _"OH SEOJUNG"_ written on the front.

"Why?" Jaehwan asks listlessly.

"Don't need to know." Ahn rolls his eyes. "Is Jonghyun awake?"

Everyone tenses.

"No." Minhyun says, voice low and gravelly.

"Okay, then you're leader for this one, freak." He replies carelessly, pushing the file towards him with one finger. "You leave in one week, as usual. Take care of the newbie, and tell him the things at stake."

He smiles meanly, and Daniel starts to get up, stopped only by Hyunbin's glare.

"I'm glad we all understand each other." He sings, then departs. Daniel puts his forehead down on the table.

"He has Jonghyun's body while we're out." Minhyun warns, and everyone nods in understanding. "Are we all on the same page?"

"Yes, hyung." They drone, and Minhyun gets up to drag the whiteboard over. Seongwoo opens the file, passing out pictures of a foxy looking woman.

"Hey, we got a profile for her and her schedule." Jaehwan notes with surprise.

"Must be a big fish." Hyunbin quips, breaking into a weak smile.

"I'll check tonight just to be sure." Minhyun says, scrutinizing the photos. He hangs them up using magnets, uncapping a black marker and writing her name in a large font across the board.

"Whew." Seongwoo whistles. "A house the size of a small castle programmed with state of the art security facilities. We can't do this while she's at home."

"Windows?" Minhyun asks, sitting down again.

"Bulletproof." Seongwoo confirms.

"Okay then." Minhyun huffs. "What about her going out schedule?"

"None." Seongwoo mutters, flipping frantically. "She does everything from home."

"She got kids?" Jaehwan questions, and he shakes his head. Daniel wracks his brains, thinking of how to kill her.

"Carbon monoxide through the air vents?" Daniel asks.

"It says here that she has air filtration installed."

"Can I just seduce her?" Hyunbin says, bored.

"That's the furthest thing from safe." Minhyun mutters under his breath.

"You mean that's the furthest thing Jonghyun-hyung would do." Hyunbin retorts. Minhyun freezes over, jaw clenching.

"Watch that mouth." Daniel says immediately. "And stop it. We're all stressed, you don't have to be a dick."

"Sorry." Hyunbin says after a pause. "I'm sorry. That was careless."

"Pipes." Daniel remembers. "The pipes!"

"Pardon?"

"We put poison in the water pipes!" Daniel claps his hands together, waiting for someone to get it.

"Translation?" Jaehwan looks to Seongwoo, who looks equally confounded. Daniel sighs in exasperation.

"Deuterium oxide!" He grins.

"Heavy water." Seongwoo realises. "And she wouldn't notice, because the water pipes are common ground."

"We just cap off hers, camp out at the place where she gets her water from, and dump heavy water in every day." Daniel continues. Minhyun crosses his legs.

"The entire household will die of poisoning." He nods in recognition. "Good idea, Daniel."

"We can get foxglove in the mean time." Jaehwan says under his breath.

"I think this might actually work." Hyunbin grins. "Good job, hyung."

 

They are let loose onto the streets the next day, and sent in an armoured car to the nearest poison dealer. The store is quietly tucked away in Chinatown, and Daniel thinks he sees a glimpse of a ghost, drifting between the shops. An old woman stands at the steps of her shop, carving knife in one hand. Seongwoo steps around her cautiously, and she breaks into a grin.

"Good morning!" The kid chirps at the front door, and Daniel smiles at him. Light filters in through the sheer curtains, and the shop is clean. Rows of jars of tea line what looks like a refurbished bar counter, with glass cases surrounding the island in the middle of the room. Hyunbin settles onto a high chair, fingering the exquisite china placed on the table.

"Tea?" The kid asks kindly, and they shake their heads.

"Hi kid, can I speak to the boss?" He asks, and the boy beams. He's pretty, Daniel thinks. He's got a neat haircut, and he speaks Korean with a slight American accent.

"Speaking." He raises an eyebrow, and Jaehwan gapes at him.

"You're just a kid." Jaehwan says in disbelief.

"No one is just anything in Seoul." The boy winks. "I'm David. What do you want to buy?"

"Deuterium oxide." Minhyun says quietly.

David raises an eyebrow.

"Huh." He scoffs.

"That's expensive, sir. I need to see some cash." Minhyun gestures for Daniel to set the luggage on the counter, and he hefts it on. Hyunbin steps forward to unlock the code, spinning it so the contents of the luggage face David. The kid whistles at the sight of the crisp notes within.

"My, my, sirs. You've got a big budget." He sings. "I don't deal with the pricier orders. Let me get a friend-"

"Lee Daehwi!" Someone roars from the back of the shop. David jumps, and ducks below the counter just as a handsome teenager crashes through the backroom. "What did you do to my amanatia phalloides?"

"I found a way to collect the amatoxin faster." David reappears from below the counter, the beanie slightly askew. "You should be proud of me, hyung. We have guests."

"Good Lord, you drive me crazy." The teenager hisses. Turning to them, he inspects the suitcase full of money and the bodyguards lounging in various positions in the store. "Good morning, gentlemen. My name is Donghyun. How may we help you?"

"Deuterium oxide." Minhyun repeats. Donghyun snaps his fingers, and Daniel's mouth opens in shock as a notepad and stationary set fly across the room into his hand.

"How much?"

"Enough to bring a small estate down." Daniel says, tilting his head.

"That's a lot." Donghyun observes. "Do you need delivery as well?"

"Yes, to this address next Monday at 8pm." Seongwoo slips a piece of paper across the counter. He takes it, clucking as his eyes light up in recognition.

"Pity." He sighs. "She was a good customer."

"I trust there will be no complications?" Daniel pushes, and Donghyun smiles at him.

"We are not fools, Kang Daniel." He closes the case and checks the code. "If we do this, we require a favour."

"A favour." Jaehwan echoes. "Ran out of those a long time ago."

"Daehwi, bring Youngmin and go take out the amatoxin, please." Donghyun says, eyes fixed on Hyunbin.

"Get it yourself." Daehwi sulks, skipping to the backroom.

"In case of anything, we want a guarantee that Daehwi will be taken care of." Donghyun opens his arms. "That's all we ask."

"What does Daehwi do?"

"Emotional projection." Donghyun's eyes slide uneasily to the bodyguards. "I think you will find him especially useful."

"Done." Seongwoo says, trying for a smile. "And another deal, under the counter. We need foxglove."

"Promise me you take care of him, and we will give it to you for free, with no questions." The newcomer emerges, hair wet. He looks older, around their age. "Do we have a deal?"

Minhyun fingers the ring around his neck, releases it and hands it over. The man inspects it, turning it over in his palm.

"Done." He says. "Thank you very much, gentlemen." Daehwi emerges from the backroom, carrying a tub of what looks like grey powder.

"Thanks." Donghyun grins, ruffling his hair. He snaps his fingers again, and Daehwi and the other man duck as a large bottle of green powder flies from the back.

"Donghyun." The man says reproachfully, straightening his clothes.

"Sorry, Youngmin-hyung." Donghyun hands the bottle over. "Foxglove. Put the powder in water- Do you want capsules? We have those if you want."

"Just powder, please." Hyunbin nods politely. Donghyun spoons the powder into a smaller bottle, handing it over. "Consume the entire thing and you'll have a heart attack within six hours." He promises. "Untrackable, handy when you don't want the person dying too early." He lowers his voice.

"Is it true that Ahn Jun Young has captured people like us to be his own personal contract killers?" He inquires. Minhyun places a hand on his shoulder.

"You should be careful." He warns gently. Donghyun nods in acknowledgement.

"Thank you." He says, voice low.

When they leave, the woman outside is gone, a frowning boy in her place. He's still holding the cleaver, blood streaked on his arms and a dead chicken held by the neck in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i opened a twitter account so follow me on there!!! my username is @wildflower_kjh pls come & scream with me about nu'est w's comeback?? a work of art i love my capable boys so much lol
> 
> comment below!! or @ me on Twitter bc it's so much easier to respond there lol love u guys!!


	10. act 2 : how long does minhyun have?

**ACT 2 SCENE 4 : DANIEL**

"I don't like leaving him here." Seongwoo says over Jonghyun's body.

"I don't either, but there's nothing we can do." Hyunbin mumbles. "He's insurance, just in case-"

"It'll be a quick operation, okay?" Jaehwan places a hand on Hyunbin's trembling shoulder. "Dump the liquid, stalk the house, and leave undiscovered."

"I seriously don't think-" Seongwoo begins, unconvinced. 

"Then do you have a better idea?" Jaehwan snaps, adding a quick "hyung" after a heated glance. Daniel leans his head against the wall, and Minhyun takes Jonghyun's still fingers. 

"We have to go." He interrupts the budding argument. "Come on. Donghyun will be waiting."

"If he's touched in any way-" Seongwoo begins again, and Daniel reaches across the room to catch his wrist in his hand. 

"Enough." He insists. Minhyun looks as if he's on the urge of fainting. "Minhyun hyung, he'll be fine without you for a couple of days. He won't age that much. Now, let's  _go."_

 

They are waiting by the bit of forested area outside the headquarters of the plumbing station. 

"Dressed to kill." Donghyun observes of their entire blank outfit, a red scarf tied around his neck. Leaning against the truck, he looks more like a model going to a Fashion Week than a poison dealer dropping the order off. "Good luck."

"We'll need it." Jaehwan says grimly, checking his watch. "Time now is eight, we have three hours to do this before Minhyun needs to go back."

Mentioned man tightens his smile, drawing his lips over exposed teeth. 

"Well." Youngmin says awkwardly. "It's been a pleasure dealing with you gentlemen. If you ever need us again..."

He presses his palm against Hyunbin's forehead and the boy jumps a mile high. 

"Oh!" He gasps in surprise. "That was... That-"

"You won't forget us." Daehwi promises with a dark grin. Daniel exchanges a look with Hyunbin, and the boy nudges him towards Youngmin. Daniel presses his forehead against the older's offered palm, and the image burns behind his eyelids.

A singular red flower, surrounded by young green berries, blooms before fading. He stumbles back, poking into the memory and surprised to find the address tucked away into the corner of his mind.

"Helpful." He comments, and Youngmin shrugs.

"Used to be in advertising." He says offhandedly. 

"Nice talk." Minhyun cuts in, eyes looking a tad too frantic. Daniel holds his tongue. He's not as stupid to cross him when he's in this kind of mood.

"Here's a bonus, before you go." Daehwi promises, closing his eyes and concentrating. A surge of unknown confidence surges up in his chest, and Daniel straightens from his slouch. Minhyun looks less pale, more alive than he was a minute ago. 

"Thank you." Daniel clasps Daehwi's hand. "Hopefully, we don't see each other again."

Youngmin nods to him grimly, and the three of them enter the little red car next to the truck.

"Bye!" Donghyun waves, and with a little growl of the engine, the car rockets down the worn path back to the city. Seongwoo gets into the driver's seat, Minhyun sitting next to him up front. Daniel, Jaehwan and Hyunbin pile onto the back, making sure the attachment to the tanks of heavy water is secure.

Daniel pulls the black face mask over himself, watching with keen eyes as they near the facility. Jaehwan begins to unload the tanks once they arrive in a fairly secluded spot, and he closes his eyes, feeling the rush of the water beneath them.

Hyunbin returns after his scouting, pointing out the private water tank that belongs to the Oh household. 

"That one." He says grimly, and Seongwoo jogs over to it, punching the red button on the side to open the cover. "Daniel-hyung-"

"I'm on it." He mumbles, closing his eyes. Below, the water is calm and still, pulsing with energy. The water in the tank is  _heavy,_ and he focuses his attention to lift up swirls of poison.

"Oh, wow." He hears Minhyun say weakly. He hears the gasps as he does his work, but he cannot afford to lose his concentration. 

 

Two and a half hours later, he has the tank full and pulsing with the heavy water. Shutting his eyes, he falls to his knees and sits cross legged on the ground, thoroughly exhausted.

"Good job, Niel." Seongwoo is holding him together, and he opens his eyes to see Minhyun's strange eyes staring down at them.

"Hyung." He croaks in alarm. "Your blue eye is going gold."

"Shit!" Minhyun clutches at the offending eye, definitely looking paler than he was a few hours ago. "Jaehwan, can you contact base for the transport-"

A loud, thudding noise interrupts him, and they tilt their heads up to observe the white helicopter that descends from the still night sky. There's  _his_ logo painted in red on the side of it, and the doors open once the helicopter touches the ground. Seongwoo helps Daniel to his feet as Hyunbin punches the red button again to close the tank, and Jaehwan holds on to the back of Minhyun's jacket as they hobble towards the aircraft. Hyunbin comes to support Daniel on the other side as the three of them follow, only relaxing when they are in the comforts of the helicopter.

The seats are tan leather, plush and comfortable. Daniel huffs out an exhausted breath, body collapsed against the seats as they lift off again and head back to the compound.

"Listen to me very carefully." The voice over the intercom is rushed and stilted. Daniel sits upright, his friends looking in various states of restlessness. "Ahn is going to kill all of you when you return. He will drug you with poison, and the poison is the first round of the disease he is going to spread worldwide. Do not eat or drink anything he gives you. Do you understand?"

"How can we trust you?" Minhyun snaps, already on edge from the change happening in his body. His left hand clenches on the arm rest, and Daniel pats his thigh soothingly. The intercom goes silent, and the compartment between the guests seats and the pilot's seat opens. The mysterious pilot is busy setting the route, eyeing a map and calculating away. He punches a few numbers into the cockpit and flicks on the silver auto-pilot button, and Daniel feels the intrigue of everyone of the aircraft when the man turns around.

"Sewoon." Jaehwan breathes, a fervor alight in his eyes at the sight of his ex-boyfriend. Minhyun's mouth opens slightly in realization, and Seongwoo exchanges a nervous look with Hyunbin. "You've come to save us."

"That's a little complicated." Sewoon grins tiredly at the five of them. "It's been hard adjusting to the new memories, but I remember mostly everything."

"You remember us?" Jaehwan asks in trepidation, and Sewoon rolls his eyes and opens his arms. Seongwoo stands suddenly and puts himself between all of them.

"Hold on." He insists. "How do we know you're not his spy, or something? Tell Jaehwan something only he knows."

"The first time he lost our promise ring was on the 17th of April, 2010." Sewoon says determinedly, and Jaehwan makes a noise like a dying animal in his throat.

"Out of all the things to remember." He mutters under his breath, nodding when Seongwoo looks at him to check if Sewoon can be trusted. Seongwoo shrugs immediately and sits back down next to Daniel.

"Get over here." Sewoon mutters, looking a little teary eyed. Jaehwan jolts forward from his seat like he's been electrocuted, flying into his boyfriend's arms. Daniel sniffles slightly and Hyunbin wipes away a tear with the back of his shaking hand. Sewoon finally lets Jaehwan go, pushing him into the co-pilot's seat. "It's nice to meet all of you. How long does Minhyun have?"

Daniel leans forward to study the state of his teammate's eyes, checking the black watch on his wrist.

"Fifteen minutes to get back and touch Jonghyun." He realises. Sewoon clucks his tongue and turns back to his dashboard.

"All right then." He studies the controls, and turns the engine all the way up, throwing them a rueful grin. "I guess it's time to speed up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit short but i'm back with this one!! yay haha. whose pov in the next act do you want? i opened a Twitter poll so please comment either below or vote on there (or both hehe) 
> 
> comment below! ♡ u can find me on twitter & curiouscat at @wildflower_kjh


	11. interlude 2

**INTERLUDE 2**

Even before the helicopter touches base, Minhyun is tensed and ready at the door. The moment Sewoon shouts: "Clear!", his friend is taking off at the speed of light. Daniel follows behind closely, chasing the older. It might be just him, but Minhyun seems to be twisting time a bit. One moment he's at the doorway, the next he is clattering down the stairs. He speeds up, and they encounter a surprised guard.

"Hold on!" The guard holds out his electricity baton, and Minhyun freezes the time around him like it's nothing, speeding down the stairs. Daniel pauses slightly, observing how the man is still breathing, but so slowly the rise and fall of his chest is barely noticeable. He shakes his head. Minhyun  _does_ have the power of time after all, he's not just a seer. Speeding up, he jumps off the last of the stairs and follows the green light on the floor back to his cells. Minhyun scrambles to unlock Jonghyun's door from the outside, and then the door to the cell is sliding open, allowing him to slip in. Daniel jogs to a stop right outside, fearing for the worst.

Inside, Minhyun is sitting on the bed, his hand held in Jonghyun's white one.

Jonghyun has his eyes wide open, and he looks pale and gaunt. Minhyun is muttering under his breath even as Daniel enters with a bright grin.

"Hyung!" He cheers, coming to a complete halt as he registers the ice cold blueness of his friend's skin and how his eyes are completely blue, instead of the soft dark brown he's used to. "Hyung-"

Hyunbin bursts in the next moment, followed closely by Seongwoo.

"Is he okay?" The question bursts out from their chests in unision, and Minhyun is frozen where he is sitting.

"I don't understand." He turns to them, and his eyes are still gold. "He's not- He's not breathing."

Seongwoo stumbles back into the dresser, and Hyunbin steps forward, fists clenched in determination.

 _"Hyung, wake up."_ He insists in his deep compulsion voice, and Daniel jolts where he is standing. His previous exhaustion fades, and he feels as if he's been dunked in a vat of espresso. _"Now,_ hyung."

Jonghyun remains unresponsive, blue eyes still wide open and not moving. Hyunbin bites his lip, looking impossibly lost.

"I- I got my power back." He tells Daniel. There's a swirl of emotions building in his chest, a mixture of confusion and pain and worry. He can't afford to lose Jonghyun when he's just found him. "Why isn't it working?"

"Hyung." Jaehwan slips in, looking ruffled and his clothes in a state of disarray. "Is-"

Seongwoo clutches onto Jaehwan, and the both of them fall into silence. Daniel notes that it's the first time the both of them are displaying consensual physical contact.

"Minhyun-hyung, kiss him." Daniel remembers suddenly, how Jonghyun always said that the lips were the entrance and exit of souls. "I think-"

Minhyun leans forward and presses his lips to Jonghyun's unabashedly. Hyunbin's hand finds his way into his, and he holds on tight to the hand of their youngest. Minhyun sits back, and- Nothing. 

"It's not working." Hyunbin says again, voice an octave higher with his confusion. "Why isn't it working?"

"Wait." Jaehwan creeps forward now. "Look at his eyes."

And it  _is_ true. Jonghyun's eyes are darkening from the eerie ice blue back to brown, and Daniel checks on Minhyun. He has a blue eye and a gold one again, and Daniel dares to let his heart hope.

Jonghyun gasps back to life, hands clenching impossibly and he sits back upright on his mattress. Minhyun screams a little bit and leaps off the side of the bed. Hyunbin hooks his long arms around Daniel and holds on tight as Daniel steps back once in shock.

"Ah!" Jonghyun shrieks a mixture of all their names combined together, and the five of them look back at him in terror. "Are you okay? Did anyone get hurt?"

"You-" Minhyun scoots forward, face open and vulnerable. "You're awake."

"Yes." Jonghyun mumbles in disbelief, looking at his hands and rolling his wrists. "It's been long since I was in this body."

Daniel winces at the level of morbidness in the statement, and Hyunbin continues to hide behind him.

"Are _you_ okay? You were the only casualty." Jaehwan checks, and their leader nods.

"I'm fine." Jonghyun nods. "How long was I out?"

"Hyung." Hyunbin falls to his knees, and Daniel tries to catch him to no avail. "Hyung, you died. _Hyung, you died and I had to fix you."_

"Oh, Hyunbin." Jonghyun holds a hand out to their youngest, who grasps it like a dying man to water. "I'm so proud of you."

"Jong." Seongwoo breaks into the moment, and he looks up at him. Daniel turns to see an unnatural expression of solemnness on his boyfriend's face. "We have a lot to do if we are to survive tonight."

Jonghyun gazes back, trusting and reliable and Daniel wants nothing more than to huddle in his embrace and breathe in the scent of  _home,_ _belonging._ Instead he controls his expression and steps back so he's in line with Seongwoo.

"Hyung." He steels himself. "It's been three months."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks yall for reading and kudo-ing and commenting :-) only one more act is left + the epilogue so pls anticipate it!! the epilogue is going to trigger some people so i'll remember to put in tags
> 
> comment below ♡ or contact me on twitter/curiouscat !

**Author's Note:**

> i opened a twitter account so follow me on there!!! my username is @wildflower_kjh and if u tell me who u are in the comments I'll follow u back! :-)


End file.
